My ADAPT Journal

The best advice I can give to current ADAPT health coaching students is to make passing the PSA the central focus of the practicum, from the beginning.

The ADAPT practicum, as the word practicum implies, put more emphasis on experiential learning. Where the pre-practicum equipped us with foundational knowledge, the practicum was designed to put that knowledge into practice.

I’ve been thinking for a while about what I might say about the ADAPT program at this, the midway point. Following is my review of the pre-practicum.

The highlight of the month was a series of lessons in weeks 23 and 24 on lab testing. Chris Kresser provided an inside look at what tests he typically runs in his clinics and how they differ depending on the circumstances of the client.

I consider both Ken Kraybill and Robert Biswas-Diener to be master coaches and love the fact that they contradict each other on this. 

The first week of September was a break week, so the month only consisted of three weeks of content. It was an interesting month nonetheless, particularly in the Functional Health track, as we covered a number of dietary variations within and out of the paleo sphere.

It was a crash course in nutrition basics, much appreciated, and a little overwhelming in terms of the amount of information to retain.

So the only real drawback to being an international student is the difficulty of attending instructor sessions live. That and the fact that one’s options are limited when choosing which mentor coaches or teacher assistants to session with.

In week three of the Functional Health track, we studied macronutrients. This week we took the consideration a little further with a look at macronutrient ratios in paleo-style diets.

I found Keith’s enthusiasm for online marketing strategy inspiring. And I say that as someone who’s been around the block a few times and is not so easily inspired. But there’s no fluff in Keith’s stuff. He knows his subject inside out and is directly on point with his message.

Week three is almost in the books and did not disappoint. As hoped for, the Functional Health track went more in depth this week and has me excited for what’s to come. So much so that I’m going to make it the sole focus of this week’s entry. 

The highlight of the week for me was participating in my first 90-minute mentor coach session. It was kind of an intro session, facilitated by Shelley-Anne McKay, but gave a good sense of what this element of the curriculum will entail.