Want to learn more about health-related coaching? These resources, which include examples of training programs, may help.

University of Minnesota Center for Spirituality & Healing – This Minneapolis-based center offers a Certificate in Integrative Therapies & Healing Practices: Health Coaching. It’s a two-year, part-time, graduate-level program that uses a blend of online and classroom instruction. The cost is based on the university’s graduate school tuition rates.

Duke University Integrative Health Coach Professional Training Program – This program consists of four, four-day sessions over the course of several months. Participants must have at least a bachelor’s degree or three to five years of experience in a medical or allied health field. The fee is $4,495 for applicants who register by November 1, 2010. Duke, based in Durham, N.C., is developing a certification option.

Wellcoaches health and wellness coach certification programs – These 13-week training programs, endorsed by the American College of Sports Medicine, involve weekly classes delivered through interactive phone calls. The fee is $895 for applicants who register for the next program by September 27, 2010. The next advanced nine-month professional health and wellness coach training program, including workshops and teleclasses, starts in March 2011. Wellcoaches published the first coaching textbook in health care.

Wellness Coaching for Lasting Lifestyle Change, by Michael Arloski, Ph.D.

Real Balance Global Wellness Services--Wellness mapping 360, wellness coach training

Partners in Care Foundation. How Boomers Can Help Improve Health Care: Emerging Encore Career Opportunities in Health Care.

The Boston Globe. “McLean Center Gives Coaching a Boost.”

The Boston Globe. “When a Coach Can Help.”

The New York Times (Shifting Careers blog). “Working While Chronically Ill.”

The New York Times. “On the Other End of the Line, Discipline.”