Who can you coach for your NBHWC practice sessions?

Friends, family and current classmates are out.

Friends, family and current classmates are out. NBHWC's coaching-log requirements say plainly that "[c]oaching sessions may not be with friends, family, or current classmates." You also need to check that the session meets NBHWC's timing, duration, coaching-content and delivery rules.

NBHWC's live page excludes "current classmates". Its January 2026 Board Exam Application Packet excludes "friends, family or classmates", without the word "current". The two documents use different wording and neither resolves how it applies to former classmates. Get NBHWC confirmation before relying on former-classmate sessions. This difference remained on 11 September 2026.

Payment does not override the relationship exclusions

NBHWC accepts sessions that are "paid or pro bono". A paying client is still excluded if they are your cousin; an unpaid client can qualify if every other requirement is met. The same goes for job titles and platform labels. Calling someone a client, listing them as a client in your own records, or meeting them through a directory does not change the underlying relationship.

A three-state screen

Use this suggested screen before offering a session you intend to count. It is a planning aid, not an NBHWC eligibility ruling.

State	Who falls here	What to do
Excluded	Friends, family, current classmates	Do not log these sessions. Any coaching you choose to do outside the log still needs appropriate boundaries and consent.
Ask first	Former classmates; other coaches offering to swap sessions; anyone whose relationship to you is hard to name	Ask NBHWC for clarification before relying on the session. Your programme can help you frame the question.
Assess against every other rule	An unrelated adult who wants health and wellness coaching	Not automatically eligible. Still check timing, duration, facilitation, format and consent.

The coaching-log page and January 2026 packet do not define "friend" or specify degrees of family relationship. If your relationship is unclear, use the “ask first” row.

Six screening cases

These are illustrative applications of the published rules. They are not rulings by NBHWC.

Your sister. Excluded. Family, with no qualifying condition attached in either document.

A friend you go on holiday with every year. Excluded under the friends rule, even if you agree to keep the session separate from your friendship.

A person on your current cohort. Excluded. The live page names current classmates directly, so sessions with a current classmate are excluded whether or not you swap roles.

Someone who was on your cohort two years ago. Ask first. The live page does not expressly exclude former classmates; the packet's broader wording leaves their status unclear. Do not rely on these sessions without clarification from NBHWC.

An unrelated coach from another programme who offers to swap sessions. Ask first. Neither reviewed source approves reciprocal exchanges, and neither prohibits them by name. The paid-or-pro-bono wording does not expressly settle reciprocal exchanges. Meeting through a coaching platform does not settle this question.

An unrelated adult who approached you for help with sleep and stress. Assess. Eligibility still depends on the date being after your PSA pass, the session running at least 20 minutes with at least 75% facilitation, and delivery being in person, by phone or through live interactive technology.

The question to put to NBHWC

If former classmates or reciprocal exchanges matter to your plan, ask before you build on them. You could send:

Does "classmates" in the January 2026 application packet mean current classmates only, as the live coaching-log page says, or all former classmates too? Separately, may unrelated peer coaches exchange genuine health-and-wellness coaching sessions and count them toward the 50, and under what conditions?

Send it to NBHWC; your programme may be able to help. Keep the reply with your log. If no answer arrives before you need the sessions, recruit elsewhere rather than gamble the application.

Relationships the sources do not address

Some situations need an answer from outside the coaching-log page.

A friend introducing you to their colleague is a sourcing route, not permission to coach the friend. Screen the person you would actually be coaching, on their own relationship to you.

Coaching people you already serve in another professional role, such as your own patients or your direct reports, raises scope, consent and workplace questions the NBHWC log rules do not cover. Check your own professional obligations and your employer's position first.

The coaching-log page and application packet do not settle the additional safeguarding or professional obligations involved in coaching minors or people with clinical needs. Work within your competence and arrange appropriate referral when someone needs treatment rather than coaching.

Keep a brief, private screening record

Keep a short private note for each client: the relationship category you assigned, the date you screened them, any written ruling you received from NBHWC or your programme, and confirmation that they agreed to take part. These notes record how you screened the client; they do not guarantee NBHWC acceptance.

Keep personal information to the minimum you need. NBHWC's form asks for a coded identity to retain confidentiality; leave names and identifying details out of the submission. Store any key linking codes to real people separately and securely.

Screen the client and agree the arrangement before the first session you intend to log.

Sources

Official sources checked 11 September 2026.

NBHWC, Coaching Log Requirements: "Coaching sessions may not be with friends, family, or current classmates"; "Coaching sessions can be paid or pro bono"; the 20-minute, 75% facilitation, post-PSA and delivery-format rules; the coded-identity requirement.
NBHWC, Board Exam Application Packet, January 2026 version: "Coaching sessions may not be with friends, family or classmates"; the same session criteria; the coded-identity requirement and the signed attestation.

Neither source expressly confirms eligibility for former-classmate sessions or reciprocal exchanges between peer coaches.