ABSTRACT
The current culture of health coaching leads us to assume that there is a “right” way for a health coach to look. However, this is an assumption that tends to alienate certain groups of people, specifically those who are more marginalized such as black and indigenous people of color, those who identify as queer, transgender, or nonbinary, and fat individuals. Though there is movement happening in our culture to be more inclusive of the more marginalized individuals, there still remains a difference in the depth of service that can be provided by someone identifying themselves as an ally versus someone with actual lived experience. In this chapter, I challenge the assumptions one makes about health and health coaching in general, while making the case for the value of providers with different lived experiences.
