Relief-5R Method for Pain Coaching

For Coaches, Health Care Providers, and Health and Wellness Professionals

Learn, practice, and lead the way in redefining how we coach people with pain.

This 8-week, live course invites you to learn an innovative, evidence-based approach to lifestyle medicine pain coaching. Guided by Saloni Sharma, MD, LAc, author of The Pain Solution: 5 Steps to Relieve and Prevent Back Pain, Muscle Pain, and Joint Pain Without Medication, and Jessica Singh, MD, NBC-HWC, ACC, holistic physician coach and founder of the Center for Health and Wellness Coaches, this course integrates lifestyle medicine principles with coaching skills. The novel whole-person approach empowers you to apply Dr. Sharma’s Relief-5R Method to coach people with pain and support them to discover relief, embrace healthy living, and elevate their well-being.

Dr. Sharma’s Relief-5R Method, rooted in "microboosts"—small steps that add up to big relief—serves as the foundation for the course.

**Over eight 90-minute weekly live sessions, you will learn how to apply the Relief-5R Method in your coaching and/or healthcare practice, supported by skill development between sessions.**

**Through interactive dyad partnerships, you will further develop your coaching skills, learn actionable techniques, and gain confidence in applying this personalized methodology to your practice.**

**This unique opportunity enables coaches and health care providers to not only better facilitate pain prevention and healing, but also support whole health with lifestyle medicine.**

Who is this course for?

☙ Health care providers and health and wellness professionals interested in learning the Relief-5R Method to coach people with pain

☙ Coaches at any stage of their professional journey, including aspiring coaches, coaches undergoing coach training, and practicing coaches

☙ Coaches of any niche or specialty

Disclaimer: This 5R-Relief Method for Pain Coaching course, provided by the Center for Health and Wellness Coaches, is an 8-week formal training program to learn and practice the evidence-based Relief-5R Method to coach people with pain. Upon successful completion of the course, all participants will receive a certificate of course completion. Please note that this course is not a coaching or pain coaching certification program.

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Course Objectives

Upon completion of the Relief-5R Method for Pain Coaching, learners will be able to:

Recognize the most common causes of back, joint, and muscle pain
Describe principles and applications of lifestyle medicine
Implement the Relief-5R Method to support intentional healthy living and optimize lifestyle behaviors in people experiencing pain
Apply the concepts and practice of the Relief-5R Method coaching to enhance well-being and facilitate healing

The Relief-5R Method for Pain Coaching Includes:

☙ 1.5-hour weekly small group sessions over 8 consecutive weeks delivered online through Zoom

☙ Access to recordings of weekly sessions

☙ Recommendations for self-practice

☙ The opportunity to practice whole health pain relief learned with a dyad partner
**☙ Required readings from Saloni Sharma MD's book, The Pain Solution: 5 Steps To Relieve And Prevent Back Pain, Muscle Pain, and Joint Pain Without Medication.**

☙ Bonus: Worksheets that learners can use in their health care, wellness, and/or coaching practices.

8-Week Schedule

Wednesdays April 30 - June 18, 2025

from 6:30-8 PM EST

Instructors:

Saloni Sharma, MD, LAc, and Jessica Singh, MD, NBC-HWC, ACC

In order to maintain the high quality and integrity of these groups, each participant must remember that they are an integral member of the group.

Participants must enroll with the intention to attend all 8 live sessions.

NBHWC CE Attendance Policy

This course is approved for 12 CE credits by NBHWC.

In order to obtain CE credit, participants must attend 6 out of the 8 live 90-minute sessions in entirety and complete all of the required coursework.

Participants can expect to spend 0.5-2 hours outside of the course each week to complete the reading and dyad practice sessions.

Participants may make up a maximum of 3 hours of missed live content for this course. There is no partial credit allowed and no make up for live content allowed if you miss more than 3 hours (two 90-minute sessions) of live instruction. All online coursework must be completed by the end of the course.

All sessions will be recorded.

If a participant misses up to 3 hours of class time and wishes to receive Continuing Coach Education contact hours, they must view the recording of the missed session and submit makeup work in the form of a 500 word summary of what they learned by the end of the course.

Note: If a participant joins a session more than 15 minutes late, it will count as a missed session and will not count toward CE credit. Makeup work is required if 15 minutes or more class time is missed.

Per NBHWC CE policy, no partial NBHWC CE credit will be given.

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Want to enroll in the Relief-5R Method for Pain Coaching at a future date?

This course is only offered once a year.

Join the Waitlist

Weekly Curriculum Overview

Week 1: Introduction to Lifestyle Medicine Pain Coaching

Learning Objectives

After this module, learners will be able to:
Describe the fundamental principles of whole person health
Discuss the pain crisis
Identify gaps in pain prevention and care in the U.S. healthcare system

Week 2: Introduction to the Relief-5R Method

Learning Objectives

Describe the fundamental principles of the Relief-5R method
Assess healthspan (versus lifespan)
Explain the science of microboosts

Week 3: Refuel

Learning Objectives

Describe the fundamental principles of food as medicine
Identify factors that contribute to the health of the gut microbiome
Explain the key components of an anti-inflammatory diet
Apply the Refuel step to coach people with pain and enhance health and well-being

Week 4: Revitalize

Learning Objectives

Describe fundamental principles of lifestyle medicine to support healthy living and aging
Identify and formulate functional goals
Assess the cultural context of movement
Apply the Revitalize step to coach people with pain and enhance health and well-being

Week 5: Recharge

Learning Objectives

Describe the importance of sleep to support health and well-being
Explain key components of sleep hygiene
Apply the Recharge step to coach people with pain and enhance health and well-being

Week 6: Refresh

Learning Objectives

Describe the importance of active relaxation and the fundamentals of mind-body mind-body medicine to enhance well-being and self-care
Identify factors that contribute to and signs of toxic stress
Apply the Recharge step to coach people with pain and enhance health and well-being

Week 7: Relate

Learning Objectives

Discuss the significance of social connections as a vital aspect of holistic health
Explain the placebo and nocebo effects in the cultural context of pain
Evaluate self-talk in context of the health and healing narrative
Apply the Relate step to coach people with pain and enhance health and well-being

Week 8: Applying Insight Into Action

Learning Objectives

Apply the 5R Relief method to their coaching and/or healthcare practice to coach people with pain and enhance health and well-being
Discuss how they can advocate for coaching in healthcare settings to benefit patients experiencing pain
Self-assess the application of the 5R Relief method in their own lives

About The Instructors

The Relief-5R Method for Pain Coaching is taught by Saloni Sharma, MD, LAc, and Jessica Singh, MD.

Saloni Sharma, MD, LAc

Dr. Sharma is a double board-certified physician, Harvard-trained acupuncturist, and medical director of the Orthopaedic Integrative Health Center at Rothman Orthopaedics. A popular speaker at Google and Dean recognized, clinical assistant professor at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, she specializes in non-surgical pain care and building customized healthy aging programs for patients. Dr. Sharma has studied Lifestyle Medicine, Functional Medicine, and Integrative Medicine through the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine.

She has studied yoga and meditation in Rishikesh, India and mindfulness at Thomas Jefferson University. She has completed Stanford Medicine's inaugural Physician Wellbeing Director Course.

At a national level, Dr. Sharma serves as Chair for Spine & Pain Rehabilitation for the American Academy of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and on a national Opioid Task Force. Furthermore, she continues to support alternatives to opioids and has directed a national physician course on navigating the opioid crisis. Dr. Sharma has recently joined the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Pain Society. She is a Top Doctor (multiple years in a row as voted for by her peers) and board member for the learning and education foundation in her community.

Additionally, Dr. Sharma has authored, the award-winning book, The Pain Solution: 5 Steps to Relieve and Prevent Back Pain, Muscle Pain, and Joint Pain Without Medication. Her unique approach empowers people to reduce excess inflammation, minimize pain, and develop a customized healthy living and aging plan.

Jessica Singh, MD, NBC-HWC, ACC, TIPC

Jessica Singh, M.D., ACC, NBC-HWC, TIPC, is a former emergency medicine physician who pursued the first one-year fellowship in Physician Wellness through the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

She is the founder and CEO of the Center for Health and Wellness Coaches, a holistic trauma-informed physician coach, and a healthcare provider well-being consultant.

She is passionate about facilitating environments to explore the root source of well-being and helping people to enhance fulfillment in all aspects of life. In addition to being a holistic coach, she holds certifications in yoga teacher training by the Sivananda yoga retreat, mind-body medicine by the Center for Mind-Body Medicine, Interactive Guided ImagerySM, and Ayurvedic wellness counseling.