How Carelon Behavioral Health's life coaching EAP motivates employees to meet their life goals

What is life coaching, and how is it different from traditional counseling?

Life coaches assist individuals with establishing personal goals, such as changing careers or establishing better fitness routines. The process involves motivating and guiding the individual to self-direct, determine their life vision, and then meet their personal objectives.¹

Life coaching differs from traditional therapy. Traditional counseling focuses on people who need to heal pain and address mental health challenges. Life coaching helps individuals pursue and achieve their life goals when they need assistance in doing so.²
 

The Carelon Behavioral Health life coaching pilot program

Carelon Behavioral Health launched the life coaching initiative as a pilot Employee Assistance Program (EAP) after identifying an opportunity in the marketplace. “There’s been a big push for life coaching, which is different from traditional EAP counseling,” explains Angela Edmonds, Director, Behavioral Health Services, Carelon Behavioral Care. “We started our life coaching model with four clients. We will offer it as an optional component that all clients can include in their overall plan benefits.”

The program is fully virtual and employs five staff members. All staff are certified and work various days and times to cover different shifts.
 

How the program operates

Individuals come to the program in two ways:

1. An individual may call their company’s EAP line seeking help after having seen a workplace flyer about life coaching.
2. EAP intake staff may recommend life coaching to an employee referred for help by their manager. If the employee is resistant to counseling, using EAP sessions, or does not meet the criteria for full EAP counseling, the employee may find life coaching to be a better fit.

“Life coaching puts things in a different perspective,” notes Edmonds.

The intake team member refers the individual to a Carelon Behavioral Care life coach. The life coach will then work with the individual on their goals and how to accomplish them.

Employees can receive up to six life coaching sessions. Once an employee has used all six sessions, the employer can allow the employee to book more sessions if necessary.
 

How individuals benefit from Carelon Behavioral Health's life coaching pilot

Edmonds emphasizes the pilot’s forward-thinking nature and cites examples of issues that individuals face. “Is the individual trying to make a major change? What are their barriers; why do they want to make the change? What help do they need in creating a plan? Are they struggling with issues such as fitness, fatigue, and what to do about them? Life coaches help people push themselves to figure out the solutions. A life coach is more of a guide.”

Life coaching requires a cognitive behavioral therapy background, and Carelon Behavioral Health life coaches require certification in life coaching. All Carelon life coaches acquire their certification through the Certified Life Coach Institute .
 

The pilot program’s goals

Carelon Behavioral Health aims to eventually roll out the program to all clients as an optional EAP benefit.

“When individuals want to make lifestyle changes but don’t know where to start, we help them refocus and self-direct. We guide them in figuring out what interests them,” says Edmonds.

Carelon Behavioral Health wants to bridge the gap that individuals experience when they need services, but do not want or need traditional counseling. “An individual might be struggling in one of their life domains, and they can use life coaching services to help decide their path forward,” says Edmonds. “Maybe they are terrified of making changes, altering their life goals, or transitioning back to school or into retirement. This program is a way to support individuals as they make these life changes, without traditional counseling.”