Awareness about preventative approaches to health and wellbeing has been steadily increasing. Rather than waiting until they feel unhappy, unfulfilled, and unhealthy, clients are instead deciding to adopt habits that prevent illness from taking root in the first place. At first, this new approach to health and wellness had focused primarily on physical health. However, in recent years, wellness has become a much more holistic endeavor, with clients looking to address spiritual, mental, and emotional needs as well (Weinswig, 2017). In fact, according to the publication “2017 Wellness Trends” from the Global Wellness Summit, 2017 has been marked by greater focus on creativity and mental health, as consumers increasingly recognize the importance of a holistic approach to wellbeing (2017 Wellness Trends, 2017).
For aspiring professionals looking to enter this thriving sector, training to become a wellness counsellor can present an ideal opportunity. Wellness counsellors create customized personal wellness counselling programs for their clients, which can help address their physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs.
Preparing to thrive in this role necessitates an education from and the support of a wellness counselling college. Here are a few important factors for those in Vancouver to consider throughout the research process.
Pick a Wellness Counsellor College That Offers Experiential Learning
A wellness counsellor career offers the opportunity to help clients achieve wellbeing and a sense of contentment with all aspects of their lives, including the emotional, physical, spiritual, and mental domains. In order to learn to help a client adjust these important factors, it’s best to prepare by studying in a program offering an experiential education, rather than one that is based entirely in theory.
“Experiential learning” is an approach to education that allows students to engage with lessons through hands-on exercises and real experiences, which promote a true understanding of the subject matter (University of New Brunswick, 2014) Students engage with wellness concepts themselves, allowing them to provide authentic feedback that comes from personal as well as professional experience when working with clients after graduation.
A variety of benefits have been associated with experiential learning. These include advantages like improved academic outcome (Strage, 2000) and greater self-confidence in one’s capabilities (Parker, Donato, Cardone, & Cerulli, 2017). For wellness counselling training, this approach to learning offers the advantage of helping students practice, explore, and reflect on new spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical practices for helping themselves and others achieve wellness.
Complete Wellness Counsellor Training at a College With Good Reviews
When deciding on a wellness counsellor training program, it is advisable to make online student reviews a top resource in your search. Websites like Google Maps, Facebook, and Yelp host reviews from current and past students, offering a convenient way to get a firsthand account of the experience that awaits if you enroll at a given institution.
You might also consider checking a college’s website for student testimonials. These will offer keen insight into what students loved most about the college, and can be a good repository of useful information. Did students love the college’s experienced and caring faculty? Were they most touched by the sense of purpose they got from their education? Did they feel their training prepared them for their career? Testimonials can help you determine whether a particular wellness college will offer you what you need.
Choose a Wellness Counsellor College in a Central, Easily Accessed Location
Students of wellness counselling quickly learn that one’s daily routine can have an immense impact on quality of life. Exercise, meditation, and other activities for the body, mind, and spirit are taught to students, which they can use in their own lives in addition to relaying them to clients.
The correlation between routine and happiness can be an especially powerful one, meaning that even small and seemingly insignificant changes can have a lasting impact on wellness. For example, while commute times might not be at the forefront of a student’s concerns, attending a wellness college in a central location can provide added convenience. In fact, researchers have found “that satisfaction with the work commute has a substantial influence on overall happiness, particularly on the balance between positive and negative effect” (Olsson, Gärling, Ettema, Friman, & Fujii, 2013).
For this reason, it is advisable for students seeking a wellness counsellor college in Vancouver to pick one with a central location that is well-served by public transportation. Rhodes Wellness College, for instance, is located a 10-minute walk away from both the Granville and Yaletown–Roundhouse SkyTrain stations in downtown Vancouver. For students concerned about how commuting to classes will affect their quality of life, choosing a centrally located college can make all the difference.
Do you want to attend a wellness counsellor college in Vancouver that ticks all the boxes?
Contact Rhodes Wellness College to learn more about our programs!
Works Cited
2017 Wellness Trends (2016). 8 Wellness Trends for 2017 – and Beyond. Retrieved October 24, 2017, from http://www.globalwellnesssummit.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/8WellnessTrends_2017_with-hiresimages_v5FINAL_web.pdf
Olsson, L. E., Gärling, T., Ettema, D., Friman, M., & Fujii, S. (2013). Happiness and Satisfaction with Work Commute. Social Indicators Research, 111(1), 255-263. doi:10.1007/s11205-012-0003-2
Parker, W. M., Donato, K. M., Cardone, K. E., & Cerulli, J. (2017). Experiential Education Builds Student Self-Confidence in Delivering Medication Therapy Management. MDPI – Pharmacy. Retrieved October 23, 2017, from www.mdpi.com/2226-4787/5/3/39/pdf.
Strage, A. A. (2000). Service-Learning: Enhancing Student Learning Outcomes in a College-Level Lecture Course. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 5-13. Retrieved October 23, 2017, from https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cache//3/2/3/3239521.0007.101/3239521.0007.101.pdf#page=1;zoom=75
University of New Brunswick. (2014). Experiential Education: New Opportunities for Transforming the Student Experience.
Weinswig, D. (2017, June 30). Wellness Is The New Luxury: Is Healthy And Happy The Future Of Retail? Retrieved October 24, 2017, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/deborahweinswig/2017/06/30/wellness-is-the-new-luxury-is-healthy-and-happy-the-future-of-retail/#4b9574c38323
