Opportunities and Practice Tips
Go Where Health Matters - 1/21/26
Affiliate with Wellness Forum!
Would you like to be an independent practitioner but do not want to do it by yourself? Already in practice and overwhelmed or need more clients?
Two medical doctors, a physicians’ assistant, a nutritionist/coach and a physical therapist just joined our growing provider network. Why? Because collaborating with us makes practice much easier. We have enormous resources – like libraries, online and live courses that help clients with diet and lifestyle change, and systems for helping you to build a thriving practice.
Email pampopper@msn.com to set up an appointment to learn more.
The Health Professionals Class of 2026 Starts NEXT WEEK on Jan 28th!!
and there is still time to enroll…
The Diet and Lifestyle Intervention Course (live and interactive via Zoom)
Program Description The Diet and Lifestyle Intervention Course is designed to teach health and fitness professionals the relationship between diet and lifestyle habits and health outcomes; to expose students to professionals who are successfully using diet and lifestyle in health care delivery, and to teach specific and effective protocols for practice. The course is taught in 15 modules totaling 39 hours of classroom time:
Science of Plant-Based Nutrition I
Science of Plant-Based Nutrition II
Introduction to Diet and Lifestyle Practice
Cancer Treatment Options
Heart Disease
Prostate Cancer and Prostate Health
Children’s Health
Women’s Health
Autoimmune Disease
Vaccinations
Mental Health
Diabetes and Alzheimer’s Disease
Treating Weight Loss and Obesity
GI Disorders
Musculoskeletal Diseases
For more details email pampopper@msn.com
Important Questions to Ask Your Clients and Patients
A common issue I encounter while training health professionals is the tendency for practitioners to look at client forms and start offering corrections that are contributing to degenerative conditions right away. Common well-intention instructions include:
“You need to exercise more.”
“Drink water instead of wine at dinner.”
“You can stop taking that supplement now – it’s useless.”
All of these statements may be true, but you’re likely to have a better relationship with your client or patient, and to achieve better results by finding out WHY people are doing what they are doing before proceeding.
For example, you might say “I see you have cocktails, every night at dinnertime. Tell me about that.”
Over the years, I’ve asked some version of this question hundreds of times and it’s amazing what people have told me. One woman told me she hated her husband and alcohol was the only way to tolerate being with him at the dinner table. Instructions to “stop that” would not be as effective as a referral to a trusted therapist. And asking questions is less likely to be perceived by your client as being judgmental than instructions to drink less.
When discussing supplements, a good question to ask, for example, is “Why are you taking creatine?” Many people have told me that they take creatine because they want to build muscle.” My follow-up question is always “Have you reviewed any research concerning use of creatine for building muscle?” Most people have not. I then can share Wellness Forum’s referenced info on creatine which shows that it is useless for almost everyone, and use this exchange to show people why it’s important to investigate health-related interventions – including alternative treatments – BEFORE making decisions. This is the beginning of helping people get out of the he said/she said, my doctor/your doctor, I read an article/I read a different – and so on cycle that results in more confusion instead of better outcomes. There is no substitute for a review of the evidence when making a decision about anything, but particularly about health. And helping people to understand this through questions and discussion provides some motivation for them to learn how.
One more thing…we teach practitioners to ALWAYS obtain client info forms at least 24 hours before scheduled appointments so that they have time to review, identify problems and inconsistencies, and develop a plan – including questions to ask – before the meeting with the client takes place.
Clinical skills is offered 2-3 times per year as part of our professional development training. For more info on this and other related classes email pampopper@msn.com