A Certified Fibromyalgia Coach^® is a professional trained specifically to support individuals with fibromyalgia. They are educated and certified by the International Fibromyalgia Coaching Institute (IFCI) under the guidance of our Founder, Tami Stackelhouse. These coaches use Tami’s proven Fibromyalgia Wellness Framework℠ to help clients manage and improve their fibromyalgia symptoms.

A Certified Fibromyalgia Coach^® provides personalized plans, practical tips, and emotional support. They assist clients in implementing their doctor’s recommendations, offering guidance based on both specialized training and personal experience with fibromyalgia. While they are not medical doctors and cannot diagnose, prescribe, or treat, they fill a crucial gap in healthcare. Many healthcare professionals lack the specialized training necessary to support fibromyalgia patients with effective and efficient treatments. A Certified Fibromyalgia Coach^® bridges this gap, providing the guidance and support that patients desperately need.

Working with a Certified Fibromyalgia Coach^® in addition to your doctor offers several key benefits:

1. Specialized Expertise: A Certified Fibromyalgia Coach^® has 370+ hours of specialized training in fibromyalgia management, providing insights and strategies tailored specifically to fibromyalgia. They are the only coaches trained in the Fibromyalgia Wellness Framework℠, which Tami has used for 20+ years to help herself and others achieve remission.*
2. Personal Experience: All of our coaches have fibromyalgia themselves, offering a unique perspective and understanding that can feel incredibly validating and supportive.
3. Personalized Plans: Using the Fibromyalgia Wellness Framework℠, your coach will create a customized plan to help you manage symptoms such as pain, fatigue, brain fog, and poor sleep, complementing the medical advice from your doctor.
4. Implementation Support: Your Coach will assist you in implementing your doctor’s recommendations, ensuring you follow through with treatment plans effectively.
5. Practical Tips: We’ve been where you are and will share practical tips and life hacks from our own experiences living with fibromyalgia, helping you navigate daily challenges more easily. 
6. Emotional Support: Having someone who truly understands you can provide significant emotional support, reducing feelings of isolation and frustration.
7. Holistic Approach: A Certified Fibromyalgia Coach^® takes a holistic approach to wellness, addressing not only physical symptoms but also mental and emotional well-being. We are trained in traditional Western medicine treatment options, such as medications, as well as natural and alternative therapies, supplements, and integrative medicine. Your Coach will help you navigate and understand your options without bias. 
8. Continuous Motivation: Your Coach offers ongoing encouragement and accountability, helping you stay motivated and committed to your wellness journey. Healing is a full-time job!

Bottom line — working with a Certified Fibromyalgia Coach^® can enhance your quality of life and get you back to living a life you love.

The cost of working with a Certified Fibromyalgia Coach^® varies based on your needs and the coach you choose. Each coach operates their own independent business and offers different options to help you improve your fibromyalgia.

Here’s a general comparison to give you an idea:

• Student Coach: Similar to seeing a student at a massage school, medical school, or dental school; rates generally range from free to $1,800 for 3-9 coaching sessions, depending on the student's level of training and experience.
• Certified Fibromyalgia Coach^®: Comparable to working with a chiropractor, acupuncturist, massage therapist, counselor, or doctor and paying out-of-pocket; rates generally range from $1,800-$4,000 for 3-5 months of coaching.
• Working with Tami Stackelhouse: Similar to consulting with a fibromyalgia specialist and paying out-of-pocket. Tami's rates are $6,000 and up for 3+ months, depending on your needs and level of support.

The best way to determine the investment is to schedule a consultation. During this meeting, your coach will ask about your needs, what you’ve tried, what has worked, and what hasn’t. Based on this information, they will recommend ways they can help you feel better. This is also the perfect time to ask about their rates and services. There is no obligation during the consultation—just an opportunity for you to explore your options.

Working with a Certified Fibromyalgia Coach^® and attending class lectures with Tami, graduates of our Certified Fibromyalgia Advisor^® training program are able to reduce their fibromyalgia symptoms an average of nearly 50% in just three months.*

Independent research has shown that after working with a general health and wellness coach for one year, fibromyalgia patients reduced the severity of their pain by almost one-third, cut the overall impact of pain on their lives almost in half, and reduced their overall doctor visits (and the expense of those visits) down to just 15% of what they were before coaching. While the participants in this study met with Certified Health and Wellness coaches, they did NOT meet with a Certified Fibromyalgia Coach^®, like the students in our Advisor class.

The bottom line? Working with a Certified Fibromyalgia Coach^® provides a critical difference in helping you achieve impressive results. Our clients experience less pain, save money, and are better able to live their lives after coaching — just as the independent study showed. What you can expect will very, depending on your unique health circumstances.

Learn more about the research and results of working with a Certified Fibromyalgia Coach^® here.

Most coaches do not take insurance, but it may be possible for you to use your Health Care Spending Account. Each HSA or FSA account is different on what they allow, so you’ll need to do some research on your end to discover what your plan covers.

If your HSA covers working with a coach, here are the general steps to take:

1. First, you’ll need to have your doctor write you a “prescription” saying that working with a Certified Fibromyalgia Coach^®would be helpful. (If your doctor wants to chat with us about how a Certified Fibromyalgia Coach^® can help you, just have them contact us.)
2. You will then pay your coach directly and your coach will provide you with a receipt. Unfortunately, your coach cannot bill your HSA card directly. (Their rules, not ours.)
3. Finally, you will submit your receipt to your HSA or FSA for reimbursement.