Coaching Cancer Survivors and Caregivers: Can it make a difference?
A friend of mine had suggested that I write an article for Ascent Wellness that focuses on cancer survivors and caregivers. She had mentioned knowing many people - family and friends - that have been impacted by cancer, and that this issue was becoming more prevalent. Despite being a certified life coach specializing in personal development, individual empowerment and resilience, as well as overall health and wellness, I have no previous coaching experience working with cancer survivors and caregivers. Even though this topic was out of my coaching comfort zone, I decided to do some exploring. My friend had made a very valid point. So many individuals that are affected by cancer, whether they are cancer survivors or caregivers, struggle to maintain healthy lifestyles.
Can coaching make a difference?
After doing some preliminary research, I was able to confirm the following:
Cancer rates are on the rise (McDowell, 2025).
With advancements in treatment, cancer mortality rates have declined; cancer survivors are increasing in number (Berzins, 2024).
Because of rising cancer rates, more people have taken on the role of caregiver, both formally and informally (Moghaddam, 2023).
My friend’s instinct was correct.
With more people being affected by cancer, it is worthwhile to explore if coaching can help both cancer survivors and caregivers rise to the challenge and forge a path forward. While looking to family and friends for support is important, it may not be enough. Working with a health and wellness coach may provide the additional assistance needed to bridge the gap to a healthier lifestyle.
What is and isn’t coaching?
Before we address how health and wellness coaching can help the cancer survivor and caregiver, it’s important to understand what coaching is and isn’t.
Coaching is not therapy. Coaches are not licensed mental health professionals. Coaches do not diagnose mental disorders, nor do they develop treatment plans for mental health issues. Coaching is not synonymous with mentoring and is distinct from teaching. Coaches do not profess to be experts in the lives of their clients and coaches will not tell a client what to do.
Coaches will encourage and support their clients. Coaches will seek to establish a collaborative relationship characterized by equity and trust. Coaches will listen for understanding. Coaches will ask questions when appropriate to guide/assist the client to achieve greater understanding and awareness of what they’d like their life to look like. Coaches will encourage clients to articulate goals and explore how their stated goals are important to them. The role of the coach is to help the coachee “bridge the gap” between goals and achievement. Certified coaches have completed hundreds of hours of training so that they can responsibly and effectively guide clients towards achieving their best life. Nevertheless, the client is viewed as the expert in her life, not the coach.
Once goals are articulated and the values underlying the goals are explored, the coach will collaborate with the client to identify barriers or obstacles that have kept the client from achieving his goals. Then the client, with the support and encouragement of the coach, will brainstorm options for moving forward. Next, a plan of action and accountability will be developed. Following the SMART goal methodology - goals/actions steps that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound - will keep the client motivated as she sees incremental progress take place. Experiencing success, even if only in small amounts, is a great motivator for clients as they continue striving towards achieving stated goals. Certified coaches that have been trained to utilize the GROW model (goals, reality, options, way forward) and SMART goal philosophy act as behavioral change experts.
Both cancer survivors and their respective caregivers have endured significant turmoil. They’ve experienced tremendous stress and anxiety. The stress and anxiety are often ongoing; it may persist in an unrelenting fashion. Cancer survivors and caregivers are often isolated and may experience feelings of depression. Caregivers frequently neglect their own health - nutrition, sleep, exercise, and other critical aspects of life to support their loved one. Can obtaining the services of a certified life coach, specializing in health and wellness coaching, help?
How can coaching help?
Evidence suggests that health and wellness coaching can help both cancer survivors and caregivers.
Cancer survivors
Cancer patients and survivors working with health and wellness coaches have shown improved health outcomes. Improvements in physical activity, healthy eating behaviors, quality of sleep, reductions in stress, anxiety, and depression were reported in a case study involving 48 health and wellness coaching participants (Berzins et al. 2022).
Group health and wellness coaching can also be beneficial to cancer patients and survivors by supporting healthy lifestyle behaviors. The studies have shown that the goals established were attainable and showed positive results for weight loss, diet, and quality of life. The results for improvements in physical activity, fatigue, and distress were mixed. Ultimately, group health and wellness coaching was helpful to cancer patients and survivors in improving lifestyle behaviors (Berzens et al, 2024). In addition, this mode of coaching is a good option for many since it is more affordable than 1:1 coaching.
Caregivers
Case studies focusing on the caregivers of cancer patients suggest that coaching can help improve the psychological, emotional, and physical well-being of caregivers. Coaches that have undergone training and certification using time tested tools like the Wellness Wheel to assess life balance and SMART goals have reported improvements in their client’s wellness (Smith, 2022).
Final Thoughts
It is important to remember that not all coaches are created equal. If you are looking for a coach to assist you as a cancer survivor or caregiver, be certain to inquire about certification and training. Coaching is not regulated within the United States by any level of government - local, state, or federal. As a result, people can claim to be a life coach or wellness coach without any formal training. If you want to ensure that your coach is qualified, you’ll have to know what to look for. The coach should ideally be certified by an International Coaching Federation (ICF) accredited institution and be on the path towards earning ICF accreditation. A certified health and wellness coach may also have accreditation through the National Board of Health and Wellness Coaching (NBHWC).
Individuals that are trained and certified as life coaches and health and wellness coaches will utilize best coaching practices to assist their clients, including cancer survivors or caregivers, bridge the gap to a healthier lifestyle. The GROW model, Wellness Wheel, and SMART goals model are just a sampling of tools a coach will use to help the client move along the path of more healthy living and an improved state of wellness.
If the services of a 1:1 coach are not practical for your circumstances, financially or otherwise, you may want to consider a form of group coaching.
Support Groups
Cancer survivor support group
https://www.cancer.org/support-programs-and-services.html
Cancer caregiver support group
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/caregivers.html
NOTE: If a cancer survivor or caregiver is experiencing severe and/or prolonged depression, seeking the assistance of a licensed mental health counselor or therapist is the proper course of action. Coaching can be an effective complement to these services but not a substitute.
Works Cited
Berzins et al. (2022, March 1). Preliminary effectiveness study of a community-based wellness
coaching for cancer survivors program. American Journal for Lifestyle Medicine.
Berzins et al. (2024, December 8). What do we know about group health coaching and cancer
Survivorship? A Scoping Review. PubMed Central.
McDowell, S. (2025, January 16). Cancer incidence rate for women under 50 rises above men’s.
American Cancer Society.
Moghaddam et al. (2023, March 27). Caregiving burden, depression, and anxiety among family
caregivers of patients with cancer. Frontiers in Psychology.
Smith et al. (2022, June 17). The effects of health and wellness coaching with an adult cancer
caregiver. The Permanente Journal.
Interesting article. As a Coach and parent of a cancer survivor, you hit some important points as far as helping cancer survivors create healthy habits. There was also a key part I felt you missed. This may be the biggest opportunity of all. In my experience the process of Cancer treatment significantly changes people. They frequently express a deeper sense of gratitude than they previously had, and they often realize that ‘what they believed was important has changed. This takes on many different contours. I would think one of the most powerful roles a coach could undertake is helping a client understand those new feelings and evaluate how they might change their life to pursue these new focuses. A lot of times Survivors will have an underlying feeling of guilt or fear that they may disappoint their family because of changes they want to make…lots of fertile ground from coaching.
I think life built around and after the illness is a completely new life. The person, 'the carrier' of illness, transforms, affecting the family, the caregivers—and everyone around them. Coaching or mediation between and during these emotional transitions could be valuable tools in the lives of the affected. It's very important to talk about this ❤️