‘Normalizing’ the concept of the environment-food-health connection is all in a day’s work for Julie Barone, HHC. A certified holistic health counselor, she introduces clients to whole foods nutrition and healthy lifestyles and weaves healthy cooking classes, shopping tips, stress management and even human-animal interaction into her solo practice.
A graduate of the New York, N.Y.-based Institute for Integrative Nutrition, Ms. Barone additionally completed the school’s immersion advanced study program. She also holds degrees in mathematics and interactive multimedia. Certified by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners (ADAP) as a Holistic Health Counselor (HHC), Ms. Barone is also a member of the American Holistic Health Association (AHHA), the National Health Association (NHA) and lifetime partner with The Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM).
Nutrition is important to a healthy lifestyle and to Ms. Barone’s Personal Wellness programs for clients. But her People-Pet Wellness program also taps into the added dimension of human-animal interaction. “Animals can help reduce stress, lower your blood pressure, motivate you to exercise and help you recover from emotional concerns such as depression,” she says.
An animal lover who works with the Catskill Animal Sanctuary, Ms. Barone has studied animal communications with professional animal psychic Amelia Kinkade, author of Straight from the Horse's Mouth: How to Talk to Animals and Get Answers. Ms. Barone’s role in a demonstration featuring animals from the sanctuary will be featured in Kinkade’s upcoming animal communication book The Language of Miracles.
An active public speaker, Ms. Barone offers interactive lectures such as “Beat the Sugar Blues,” “Eating for Energy,” and “Protein Basics.” “I’m motivated by knowing most people I speak to are not educated about basic health issues and there are small, easy changes most people would make if they had the knowledge,” she says, noting her relatively young practice also benefits from the credibility speaking engagements and writing articles offer.
Students seeking a holistic health counseling education should consider their special interests – in the health field or on a personal level – and should also expect to do a lot of reading, Ms. Barone reports. One more thing to expect: “one half of what they read will contradict the other half – and they’re probably both right,” she says. “You should learn that there are many valid theories, but they aren’t all valid for every client – it depends on the individual.”
I became a holistic health counselor somewhat haphazardly. I didn’t know that this was the career I wanted to pursue. I always had an interest in living a healthy lifestyle for myself. I took a job at a medical office while my husband was in grad school and I saw a real disconnect between the doctors and patients, and between lifestyle and disease. The patients became numbers, body parts and procedure codes. The doctors would drink endless cups of coffee and order take-out for lunch. How can you not connect the dots between your own smoking and looking at CAT scans of lung cancer week after week?
I left that environment with the intention of writing a cookbook and figuring out what I wanted to do as a career. I knew I wanted to do something that was health-related and involved food, maybe become a chef. That’s when I discovered health counseling.
I had never had a good personal experience when seeing a traditional western doctor. In most cases I felt I wasn’t listened to, was offered medications that had nothing to do with my office visit or that I was better informed on whatever my health concerns were than the practitioner. I was also frustrated by the lack of connection between lifestyle and health in the western medical community.
Pets are also part of your practice, and you will be featured in upcoming book The Language of Miracles by animal communications expert and mentor Amelia Kinkade. How did you get interested in the pet-people connection? How does it impact your holistic health counseling?
When I quit my job at the medical office, I knew I wouldn’t be able to monetarily support charities that I used to. I still wanted to support these issues, so I looked for volunteer opportunities at local animal shelters. I started volunteering at Catskill Animal Sanctuary, a shelter for horses and farm animals. Three years later, I have many inter-species stories of healing to tell. I took a part-time job at the sanctuary, and now work in its education program teaching people about the health effects of factory farming and conducting on-site cooking classes. Through my work at the sanctuary, I was able to participate in an animal communications workshop by Amelia Kinkade; some of the sanctuary’s animals were the “practice” animals, and I was a horse handler for the weekend. I began the workshop skeptical that anyone but Amelia would be able to talk to the animals. It turns out I have a natural ability. I still consider myself a student of animal communications, but I’ve had some fascinating conversations.
I did more research into animals and healing and discovered there is scientific evidence that supports things many pet ‘parents’ have known. Animals can help reduce stress, lower your blood pressure, motivate you to exercise and help you recover from emotional concerns such as depression. I combined all these things – communications, factory farming issues, community service, the love between pet and human – into my People-Pet Wellness program. The focus is still on the human, but there is the added dimension of human-animal interaction.
I really enjoy the hands-on aspect of getting people into the kitchen to cook their own food. I’m still surprised at the number of educated adults that can’t cook a meal unless it comes in a package. I like to take my clients to the health food store or the farmers market and show them how to pick out fresh vegetables and then send them home with easy recipes.
I also enjoy empowering people to take charge of their lives and set goals, not just for their health but for all areas of their lives. Teaching time management skills (a prerequisite for daily home cooked meals) helps all areas of my clients’ lives. It gives them the opportunity to ask themselves “how do I really want to spend my time?” They often have great ideas and goals to pursue that have been on the back burner for too long.
The holistic health care organizations that I belong to offer conferences, keep me up to date on nutrition news and are a vehicle to let potential clients know about my services.
I still think of myself as a small-time speaker, but once I get going the passion is pretty big. I’m motivated by knowing most people I speak to are not educated about basic health issues and there are small, easy changes most people would make if they had the knowledge. My practice is still relatively young, so speaking and writing articles also help me establish credibility among people who are hearing about me for the first time.
The rewards of being independent: I get to set my own schedule, I have a home office, I do most of my work over the telephone and I can choose not to work with a client if I don’t think we’d be a good match.
The downside of being independent: I don’t get to split advertising costs with other practitioners, it’s more challenging to network with other practitioners since we’re not in a common office/building and I am my own support staff, so I still make my own copies, run errands and schedule appointments.
My practice is in a growth phase. I hope to attend several national health conferences over the next year and to take some advanced animal communications courses.
On a typical day I have several hour-long phone consultations with clients in the morning with networking and errands in the afternoon. Once or twice a week I make copies and shop for supplies – I send my clients books, CDs, cooking tools, recipes and handouts. I follow up with my clients by e-mail, and respond to e-mail inquiries about my practice. Follow up is very important, both with clients and business contacts. When I do a cooking class I prepare one or two days ahead of time by shopping for ingredients and making recipe packets.
My job demands excellent listening skills, compassion, cooking skills, knowledge of the body’s various systems and an understanding of whole foods, stress and time management.
In the office I use my laptop and PDA to communicate with clients and schedule appointments. In the kitchen I tend to like old fashioned hand tools rather than gadgets (except for my blender). My favorite old-time hand tool is my citrus knife – it really does slice lemons better than any other knife!
I haven’t heard a lot of myths. I think the biggest misconception is that it’s not as good as becoming a dietician.
My parents and both sets of grandparents all had organic gardens when I was growing up. I think that’s been a big influence on my career path.
Never take away your client’s favorite food. Even if it’s the most horrible junk food, it needs to be the client’s decision to give it up. Keep adding in good foods and one day they will stop craving the junk, and will be empowered by it being their own decision.
I took an MD with few cooking skills on a shopping trip. I was able to teach her how to pick out fresh produce. We then had a cooking lesson. She was amazed at how easy it is to make vegetable soup, burritos and baked tofu. Now she’s cooking for her friends.
Yes! You should be passionate about whatever career you choose in order to be happy with your work.
We’re only just beginning to see the contributions from holistic health care. Making vitamin supplements, whole foods and an awareness of the environment-food-health connection ‘normal’ is one of the most recognizable contributions.
Once I settled on nutrition as my field of study I researched schools in the Northeastern United States. I was turned off by several dietician programs that had sponsorships from the beef and dairy industries on their web sites. Integrative Nutrition teaches nutrition theories from around the world, not just the USDA food pyramid.
Integrative Nutrition is not a traditional school. The training was very intense during weekend classes followed by conference calls and web forums. I had a mentor to guide me through the program, to act as my health counselor and to model counseling techniques for me. There was nothing about the program that I disliked. It was completely different from my past education – I have degrees in mathematics and interactive multimedia.
Passion about the field is the most important skill. If you have the passion, you’ll learn the material. Integrative Nutrition has a quiz in the back of its catalog to see if health counseling might be a good career option for you.
Students should look at accreditation. There are a number of holistic schools that are not accredited and degrees from those institutions are questionable. If you want to work in a hospital or nursing home type of setting, you may want to consider a holistic program at a school that also teaches western medicine.
Read as many books on natural healthcare as you can. You’ll be doing this for the rest of your career anyway to stay on top of trends, new research and to expand your knowledge.
In a holistic health counseling curriculum, students should expect to do a lot of reading, that one half of what they read will contradict the other half – and they’re probably both right! You should learn that there are many valid theories, but they aren’t all valid for every client – it depends on the individual. At Integrative Nutrition, about 10% of the students are accepted into an advanced program where they get to mentor the students below them in a supervised setting. I was able to follow 10 people over eight months this way.
I think the changes need to start in elementary, middle and high school health curriculums. Students need to learn how to care for and nourish their bodies, and need access to fresh, wholesome foods in the cafeteria. In higher education, anyone earning a medical, nursing or related degree should be required to take classes in holistic medicine and nutrition presented in ways that are relevant to their career paths.
Go to school open houses and orientations. Talk to the teachers and students to see if their philosophy matches your own. Schedule appointments for yourself with various types of practitioners so you have an idea of what it’s like to do that type of work. There are many modes of holistic healing you can experience. If you’re not sure, try taking a job (or internship) in a holistic practitioner’s office or a health food store to see if you like working with clients in that setting.
The counseling aspect is easy compared to the business aspect. Some people think that as soon as you graduate, you open an office and clients will show up at the door. As a holistic practitioner, you need both skill sets. Even if you’re an excellent practitioner, you need to work at getting clients and building your business.
Corporate wellness programs are growing in popularity. A willingness to work with large groups instead of individual clients can help with future planning.
Healthy aging, longevity and disease prevention are all hot topics. Encouraging people to work with a health counselor before they get sick will have a positive impact.
Integrated practices offering multiple healing options are gaining popularity. These practices are either one person trained in several areas or “one-stop shopping” of several practitioners working together in one office.
Holistic health counseling is growing and I expect it to continue to grow over the next five years and beyond.
The Internet has let more people know that health counseling is an option. I’m able to work with clients in several states who have found my practice through my website.
If there is some area you have a special interest in, make that a part of your practice. It may be a particular illness, a demographic you prefer working with or a hobby that you have. Even though this is serious business, have fun everyday and encourage your clients to do the same.
Your career may not be a straight line; it may have many twists and turns. It’s the path you take, not the destination, that’s important. Each bump in the road will be a lesson you can use to help yourself or your clients. Enjoy the journey.
Editor’s note: If you would like to follow-up with Julie Barone personally about this interview, click here or visit her website Julie Barone, Holistic Health Counselor.
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