5 Proven Client Assessment Skills Every Holistic Health Practitioner Should Know
Are you confident in Your Client Assessment Skills?
It takes time to feel confident when conducting a client assessment session!
After all, this is the first time (usually) meeting your new client, and a lot of personal information needs to be shared.
You client needs to know that you are a trustworthy, and safe individual when they share their personal information.
While we're talking about skills here, it's also good to be familiar with privacy laws in your own state or country.
As a holder of personal information, you are responsible for keeping any documents safe from cyber attacks or other invaders of your electronic data.
We're sure our seasoned business owners are familiar with privacy and protection laws, however, it's good to refresh yourself from time to time.
When utilizing our client assessment tips, it is important to understand that each client is unique and requires individualized care.
This is why client assessment, that is client centered, is key to great client outcomes!
Client centered assessment helps to identify the client's needs, goals, and areas of concern.
With an effective client assessment method, you can develop a personalized health and lifestyle plan that is tailored to your client's specific needs.
A note about client centered care.
This is also known as person centered care.
The whole premise behind person (client) centered care, is that you as a practitioner are maximizing your client's ability to shift, by involving them in their decisions around their lifestyle.
You are supporting your client's autonomy with client centered care.
Client assessment skills are your KEY tool in creating success.
As a holistic health practitioner, your clients rely on you to provide them with the guidance and support they need to achieve their desires in health and wellness.
They also rely on you for honest and timely feedback.
Before you can do any of this with a new client, you must first know where your client is at, what they need, how they take in information, and even their beliefs.
Did you learn the Health Belief Model in school? This model of health states that a person's health outcomes, is based on what they believe.
This process can be challenging, especially if you're not sure where to start.
It can also be challenging because your own practitioner bias comes in to play. YES, we all have bias.
Internalized, subconscious beliefs about health, about people, about the world, all play into our decisions AND the way we communicate to others.
We'll be touching on these things in future blog posts.
For now, if you work remotely, think about how you will deliver your client's assessment. You might have a fillable PDF questionnaire that you send clients upon signing up.
Perhaps you like to spend part of your first session going through this questionnaire as part of your "meet and greet" process.
There is no "right" way.
Keep the goal in mind: building a relationship with your client, while getting an in depth picture of where they are, and where they want to go.
Combining many different ways of communication styles, will help you with this KEY foundation.
We've compiled a list of 5 proven client assessment skills so you, as a holistic health practitioner, can form this bond with your client.
These will take your holistic health practice to the next level, read on to discover our top tips for effective client assessment.
Here are the top 5 client assessment skills every holistic practitioner should have
ONE: Mastering the art of the client "interview".
The "interview" is more that a history of health. It's where your bond begins. Hopefully, you have already conducted a discovery session with your client, to see if you mesh.
This may be the second time you meet!
While you will be gathering information about your client's health concerns, lifestyle habits, and any medications or supplements they may be taking, you will also be using your active listening skills to understand your client, on a deeper level.
Remember, any information you gather isn't to treat or diagnose. It's gathered so you can formulate adjunctive support alongside your client's current health status, or refer, where appropriate, when your client presents with something out of your scope of practice.
If you aren't referring among a network of licensed and unlicensed practitioners, you are missing out on a really important business opportunity!
Your client assessment should include:
Time and space for your client to express themselves
Open ended questions
You own tactics to reroute your client if discussion isn't pertinent
It is important to ask open-ended questions that allow the client to share their concerns and experiences in their own words.
This helps to establish a rapport with the client and gain a deeper understanding of their health concerns.
TWO: You're already doing this.
Make sure you have the clients top concern listed in your initial notes.
Better yet, make sure you write it in their own words.
When you have this initial statement, you as the coach can refer to this again, when your client runs up against any ambivalence.
Having the clients own words, for them to reflect on, helps with that intrinsic motivation, if your client's desire and drive starts to wane.
THREE: Assessing Client Goals.
We think this should be the FIRST step, but when meeting your client for the first time, in your assessment session, this can feel too personal.
The practicalities of supplements and conditions, and asking about their reasons for seeking you out, are great ice breakers.
Goal assessment does involve asking about health goals and what they hope to achieve through holistic health practices.
Common answers may include reducing stress, improving sleep, managing chronic pain, or improving overall wellness.
In the realm of chronic illness, and bioresonance, you may have answers in relation to reducing certain blood markers, or urine markers, along with decreasing symptoms of tick borne illness.
Don't spend too much time on whether the client's goals are realistic and achievable.
This can come later.
Your goal right now is to get your client's story, and build a relationship.
Many coaches dive into goal setting right away. A common method is the SMART goal. This stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
SMART goals can come later. They may not even be relevant at all. Core values may be more powerful.
They have their place, and we will talk about goal setting in another article.
FOUR: Priority or agenda setting.
Once you have a general idea of what your client wants, you can move on to priorities. Rare are the clients that only have ONE thing as their goal.
This is where rapport building, trust and listening come in. It is also a place to use the client centered care model, and allow feedback from your client. Your client's priority may be different from yours, and that's OK.
Conversely, your client may be wanting YOU to set all the priorities and steps. That's OK too. Any feedback from your client will raise the likelihood that success in all of your clients desired outcomes will be achieved.
For example a goal like "I want to lose weight" or even "I want to lose 20 pounds by September" are somewhat broad and may seemlike ONE goal. When broken down, they involve many moving parts, some of which do not relate to the stated goal at all.
This is where a priority can be set. Before a person can embark on any big goal, everything needs to be broken down into an achievable step.
And your assessment will help. New information will pop up through your sessions, so remain flexible.
Try and leave each session with a priority for the time spent apart, and a priority for the next session.
This can save much needed time, that would otherwise be spent figuring out what to do with your session in the first place.
FIVE: Assessing readiness to change.
It is SO important to assess your client's readiness to change. Were you taught to assess being ready, or even willing, to change?
This is part of Motivational Interviewing, which is one skill that can help your client move from being stuck to making changes, all through intentional conversation.
Assessing readiness to change, identifies any barriers that may prevent the client from making changes to their lifestyle or treatment plan.
By assessing readiness to change, you can develop strategies to help the client overcome these barriers and achieve their health goals.
This may involve providing education and resources, offering support and encouragement, and helping the client to develop a plan for overcoming obstacles.
How do you do this? By asking them! Asking how ready on a scale of one to ten, identifies how prepared they may be for this stage of change.
If your client states "5", your next step is to ask why they stated 5 and not 4. Do this with open ended questions to gather more information. THIS is a crucial step in creating change with your client.
Putting this all together for an Effective Assessment.
By honing these client assessment skills, you can create an effective plan that is tailored to your client's specific needs, values and goals.
A key element to include in your plan is collaboration.
Any plan should be collaborative in nature, and involve the client in the decision-making process.
This means working together to co-develop strategies for overcoming barriers and achieving the client's health goals.
Keep goals and strategies flexible and adaptable to the inevitable changes your client will go through as they enter into the health change process.
By joining our practitioner affiliate program, and our private affiliate Facebook group, you will have a network of practitioners to learn from, refer to and network with!
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