Since I began the Nutritional Therapy Association‘s Nutritional Therapy Practitioner Program in 2014 (and graduated in 2015!), I’ve gotten inquires about what the program offers, how it’s been part of my business plan, its strong suits and any potential downfalls I’ve noticed about the program or how it’s set me up for helping others find their own wellness. I’ve worked with clients in private, group and general settings over the last four years, so the following reasons apply to any of those directions.
If you’re worried you don’t want to work in private practice with clients, but still want to advocate for the nutrition you believe in–don’t fret! The NTP certification has set me up well with plenty of flexibility in direction, and I think the biggest decider in how to use the certification is, well, you! A thought that could seem scary, but I swear, it’s liberation and its finest.
Here are my top five reasons I became a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (NTP), and what I tell others interested in the certification!
1. I wanted to assist others.
I wanted to make sure that I had a nice structure I could offer others when discussing nutrition and wellness. Whether private or group coaching, or creating resources for others as they navigate the ins and outs of foods (and feelings around foods). The NTP program helped me suss out a concise way to discuss relevant and useful information for people–regardless of their nutrition goals!
2. I wanted to create a process.
Along a similar vein, I knew that right along with assisting other people, I also desired to have some rhyme and reason to how to conceptualize being a coach for someone. If you know me, you know the last thing I enjoy is telling people what to do! I knew one NTP prior to signing up for the program, and I appreciated her approach in working with clients. I knew that with my NTP certification, I’d be able to set out, join with clients and work together in creating substantial, yet attainable goals around nutrition and mindset. I wasn’t able to tell people what to do, but boy could I sure offer information and education around how foods work in our bodies–and why the foods we eat may not always be the foods our bodies desire, or vice versa.
Since every person and their needs are different, the NTP program allowed me to feel confident in both providing general information that’s going to apply to most people (because, bodies), setting an awesome foundation of nutrition to learn from before then diving deeper into how their unique situations, needs and histories are integral parts of our work together.
3. I had already read half the assigned reading materials!
Ok, ok! The NTP program really aligned with what I already believed about nutrition. After my own big shifts in wellness, I had turned into a full nutrition sleuth, reading journal articles and piecing together many experiences of my own… and of others. Sorry, but introverted nerds are gonna get bored with their own health and want to think about how these new paradigms “fit” on others’ experiences, too! I had read many of the books on the reading list, and that was an aspect that helped me feel aligned with the certification, and that I wasn’t trying to simply jump through or endure some hoops just for the sake of a title at the end.
4. I wanted autonomy.
I mean, I think I can pretty much leave it at that! I wanted autonomy in practice, in how to speak with clients, in overhead, etc. It can seem like a big burden to be placed on one’s shoulders, but if the desire is there, the way is there–even if it doesn’t seem apparent at first! When I graduated from the NTP program, I also had graduated with my graduate degree in social work right at the same tie, with an emphasis in clinical mental health. I wanted to advocate and work with people on their wellness, and I knew in the end that I wanted to be able to work for myself. I worked for the first 2.5 years for someone else after graduation, and then went fully solo after that!
I think what is amazing is how much people tell you you can’t achieve autonomy. I was told point blank that it would be too expensive, too hard, and too confusing to work for myself. I’m here to say–it’s not! There is no better way to learn than to do. So start doing! It’s the best advice I can give, hand’s down.
5. I wasn’t sure.
This one might come as a bit of a surprise? But, I went into the NTP program because I just wasn’t sure about the other directions and how effective I could both be for others and for myself. I remember watching a three-part PBS docuseries about medical doctors that was filmed over a 20-year timespan. It confirmed what I had assumed–the residencies and workloads these doctors were under were extreme, and almost seemed to be a rite of passage.
While this is an amazing choice made by many, I knew that I had to set that boundary with myself that I wouldn’t give my energy away like that since it seemed to be against some core principles of wellness to me. It also amazed me that here were people coming into the science of healing and health, and yet the system which they had to follow in order to obtain the rights to treat and care for others left them guzzling coffee and leaving their circadian rhythms in the dust.
Even if it was a short-term loss in order for a huge long-term gain–that reinforced conceptual piece of the medical care puzzle never called to me, and in other fields I noticed perhaps some similarities. I wanted to be able to dip my toes into helping others from a more general (more surface?) type of support, via general nutrition education. I knew if that aspect of this type of care resonated with me, becoming an NTP would be a step along my journey, and not just the end point.
But, I wasn’t sure. Yet… I was intrigued. And it kept pulling at me, which I now realize is an important signal to listen to! So I did, and I’m sure glad!
The Nutritional Therapy Association stood out to me for a multitude of reasons. The instruction I received from my course instructor and assistant instructors was incredible, and an experience I wouldn’t trade for the world. If you’re at all curious about the program, I recommend you reach out to them and sign up for their 10 day at-home free intro course, which is a useful tool they’ve created in the last year!
The world still needs so many more wellness advocates, and I believe NTPs (and NTCs) are a large piece of that puzzle. Helping people feel settled, to any degree, in their conceptualizations of food and their personal wellness is, like, a super incredible feeling, and it’s an honor to have worked with every single person, in every capacity I have had the honor to do so far. I feel like my journey is really only starting, and that is darn exciting!
If you have any questions, I’d love to answer them. Write a comment below and I’ll be sure to get back to you!
Comments