The following is my interview with my friend, Tami Stackelhouse. I can’t wait for you to get to know her better! I first met Tami back in 2014, and since then I’ve watched her pour her heart into the fibromyalgia community in so many inspiring ways.
Tami Stackelhouse is a passionate advocate who is always finding new ways to offer hope and support. Whether it’s through her Fibromyalgia Podcast®, her award-winning books, or her role as founder of the International Fibromyalgia Coaching Institute (IFCI), she is dedicated to helping people with fibromyalgia live better, more empowered lives. She also served as executive producer of the documentary INVISIBLE, giving a platform to the voices of those living with fibromyalgia. And most recently, she created the Fibromyalgia Wellness Style℠ quiz, a unique tool that offers personalized, science-based strategies for managing symptoms by building on each person’s natural strengths.
I’m excited for you to hear Tami’s story in her own words.
Can you tell us a little about the International Fibromyalgia Coaching Institute (IFCI) and what inspired you to create it?
Tami: In a nutshell, we train patients, advocates, and providers how to manage fibromyalgia, enabling patients to live their best possible lives, minimizing fibromyalgia symptoms and pain.
After I wrote my first book, Take Back Your Life, it became painfully obvious that I couldn’t help all the people who needed help. I had many people reaching out and asking, “How did you become a fibromyalgia coach? How can I be one too?” That let me know that there was enough interest and need for me to train more people to do what I do.
The International Fibromyalgia Coaching Institute is the result of that. We are the first coaching institution to focus solely on fibromyalgia — and I think the ONLY one! We offer two training paths: the Certified Fibromyalgia Advisor® training program, which teaches foundational fibromyalgia knowledge combined with one-on-one mentorship and coaching, and the Certified Fibromyalgia Coach® program, which builds on the Advisor class knowledge and teaches students how to help others with their fibromyalgia as a coach.
What kind of training do your coaches go through, and how do they use that training to support their clients?
Tami: Graduates of the Certified Fibromyalgia Coach® program receive a minimum of 370 hours of training, which includes conducting a minimum of 100 coaching sessions with real fibromyalgia patients as part of their internship or practicum.
During their training, our coaches are taught a full spectrum of fibromyalgia knowledge and treatments from traditional Western medicine and pharmaceuticals to complementary and integrative medicine, nutrition, and natural options. Class topics include:
- Current fibromyalgia science
- Medications and treatment plans
- Natural alternatives for fibromyalgia medications
- Complementary and integrative therapies
- Pacing and energy management
- Fibromyalgia-specific nutrition and exercise plans
- Improving symptoms, such as pain, brain fog, fatigue, and sleep
- Self-care and coping techniques
- Applying the Fibromyalgia Wellness Framework℠
- How to work with your unique Fibromyalgia Wellness Style℠
- Gentle goal-setting and action planning
- Strategies for working with fibromyalgia patients as a coach or provider
- Creating an energetically sustainable business as an entrepreneur
- Relationship building for clients and providers
- Connecting with your Ideal Client
- Sales and marketing for coaches
- Financial and legal best practices
- Building a business that supports your continued healing
All of our coaches have direct personal experience with fibromyalgia. They know what it feels like to struggle with brain fog, fatigue, pain, and poor sleep. Coaches educate clients on what treatments work best for fibromyalgia, help clients advocate for their needs with their providers, while also providing advice on what clients can do themselves to manage their fibromyalgia on a daily basis. Coaches share tips, tricks, and life hacks from their own personal experiences in managing their own fibromyalgia.
We don't just help you feel better about having fibromyalgia; we help you feel better, period.
We also have a "find a coach" locator here on this website where you can schedule a no-obligation consultation with any of my students or coaches.
Where around the world are your coaches located?
Tami: We have coaches located all over the globe, including: Argentina, Canada, Germany, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, Türkiye, and the United States.
All of our coaches are fluent in English. We also have coaches who are fluent in: French, German, Russian, Spanish, and Ukrainian.
How does someone newly diagnosed with fibromyalgia find a coach?
Tami: To find a coach, visit the Find A Coach link on this site. You will fill out an application, then choose the type of coach who best fits your needs. In addition to private VIP coaching with me, we have fully trained certified coaches, student coaches-in-training, and scholarship coaching for those with limited financial resources.
You started your podcast—what inspired it, and how’s the fibromyalgia community responded? Wow, and just recorded episode #167—amazing!
Tami: Honestly, I blame Dr. Ginevra for getting the podcast started! She convinced me to start the podcast during our flight back to Portland after speaking at the Sacramento Fibromyalgia Awareness Day event in 2018. Without her encouragement – and insistence! – I don’t think I would have done it.
I’ve been blown away by the response we’ve received from the fibromyalgia community. Since the Fibromyalgia Podcast® launched in 2019, we’ve become the top podcast for fibromyalgia, falling in the top 1.5% of podcasts with nearly three quarters of a million downloads from 170 countries around the world.
Tami and Dr. Ginevra flying back from Sacramento's Awareness Day Together Walk.
Every day I receive messages from people who say the podcast has changed their lives and given them hope again that it is possible to feel better.
How do you decide on the topics you cover?
Tami: To be honest, I have a list of guest speakers and topic ideas that could last us several years! The hard part isn’t having something to talk about – it’s choosing which one to talk about! When choosing topics, I base my decisions on several factors:
- What is relevant to current events (holidays, chronic pain awareness month, new research published, new medications approved, etc.)
- Questions my students and clients are asking
- Questions listeners are asking
- Other conditions that intersect with fibromyalgia
- Fibromyalgia treatments that are less common, but still effective
- Other topics people should know about, but probably don’t!
What do you hope listeners take away from each episode?
Tami: I try to record each episode with three main parts – first, the story. Often, I’m sharing a personal story, a story from one of my students or clients, or the story of the guest I’m interviewing. Then we move into teaching – providing listeners with valuable information that can help them better manage their fibromyalgia. Since knowledge alone isn’t enough to change your life, the third part of the episode is giving you specific tips or steps you can take to begin to implement what you’ve just learned in the episode.
I don’t record these episodes to hear myself talk. I do it so YOU can feel better – and to do that, you need to take action. Each episode ends with specific actions you can take, based on the content of that particular episode.
Where can our readers listen to the podcast—on their favorite app or online?
The Fibromyalgia Podcast® is available for free anywhere you listen to podcasts!
If you’re not familiar with podcasts, they’re basically talk radio shows you can listen to anytime, anywhere, and on any device that can access the internet – like whatever you’re using to read this right now!
You can find the Fibromyalgia Podcast® free on apps like: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, Audible, Amazon Music, YouTube Podcasts, etc. We recently launched our YouTube channel where you can watch behind-the-scenes videos of our interviews – and you can listen to the episodes and watch the videos on our website at FibromyalgiaPodcast.com.
So, now that the IFCI blog is up and running, what made you decide to start it?
Tami: After ten years of training other coaches, it’s not just me anymore. All of our coaches have their own experience and expertise. There are coaches who know more than me in certain areas! I want to use my platform to highlight their expertise – and share that expertise with the fibromyalgia community. We have an incredible wealth of knowledge and expertise in our IFCI community. It only makes sense to share it!
Thank you, Tami, for sharing your story with us—and thank you to all our readers for joining the conversation. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out Tami’s podcast, explore her resources, and take the Fibromyalgia Wellness Style℠ quiz to discover strategies that could help you thrive.
Action Steps
Use your pain to help someone else! Train with the first coaching institute dedicated solely to fibromyalgia and learn to help others with Tami's proven Fibromyalgia Wellness Framework℠, which has helped hundreds of thousands of patients to regain control of their lives and health over the last two decades.
For more on how you can help others just like you, check out our Class Options, FREE Be A Coach podcast series, and Virtual Open House.
About Melissa Swanson
Melissa Swanson is a chronic pain patient, advocate, and author. Through her Fibro Warriors ~ Living Life Facebook page and blog, she offers positive encouragement, medical information, resources, & support to nearly 25,000 fibromyalgia and chronic pain patients. She is a Certified Fibromyalgia Advisor®, the author of Ravyn’s Doll: How to Explain Fibromyalgia To Your Child, and a graduate of the Leaders Against Pain Scholarship Training, sponsored by the National Fibromyalgia & Chronic Pain Association.
