About Coach David

The H&W coaching field is touted by doctors, health plans, and public health professionals as an effective tool to support people seeking pathways to healthier living. A recent New York Times article described the H&W coach’s job as giving “patients the knowledge, skills, tools and confidence they need to participate fully in their own care and well-being.”

I am a National Board Certified coach (NBC-HWC)

I am a Certified Health & Wellbeing Coach. My credential was granted by the Wellcoaches Training Institute.

I also earned a Lifestyle Medicine Coach Certificate through the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.

I trained to be a H&W coach so that my work-life could involve more direct interpersonal contact with clients and so that I could see that my work ‘makes a difference.’ I deeply believe in the H&W coach model and core philosophy that rejects one-size-fits-all approaches to the change process. Rather, coaching work is rooted in research from behavioral psychology, self-determination theory, positive psychology, appreciative inquiry, emotional intelligence, design thinking, motivational interviewing, flow theory, analytical psychology, and additional theories and processes that ground the coaching work in a growing body of research of approaches that help clients’ flourish and thrive. 

Coaching isn’t just random conversations: coaches strive for authentic and trusting connections that allow us to support your efforts to establish and pursue your particular wellness goals. We hold you accountable as you pursue your goals, overcome obstacles, and celebrate your successes along the way. It’s clear that there is no single approach that can account for all human dynamics and the many environmental factors that each client experiences so we draw on many tools as well as clues from your stories and experiences to us help you find your pathway to improved well-being. 

I am a former teacher, then an education policy researcher, then a program evaluator and one of my clearest take-aways from that work is that efforts to achieve real change should reflect what evidence and data tells us is effective. My years as a professional observer and evaluator of programs bolsters my read of the research findings that successful change in social settings requires fidelity to a proven methodology by practitioners who have mastered the craft and who demonstrate the intention and capacity to connect with the people they serve. A coach with whom you connect magnifies and sustains the kind of self-actualization that drives you to change behaviors so you can achieve your goals. 

Coaching allows me to connect one-on-one and to the joy of supporting clients’ efforts to change. I enjoy hearing clients’ stories and experiences and it is these growth- and results-oriented conversations that help clients see how they can leverage factors within their environment, support networks, past experiences, and mindfulness to move down the road to the state of wellness they describe in their Wellness Visions.

I look forward to working with you as you navigate your road to wellness.