Emotional Hygiene coaching integrates key principles of:

1. Emotional coaching

2. Cycles of development and parts work 

3. Self-parenting & attachment theory 

4. Nonverbal language and facial expressions for emotion 

5. Warrior development and boundary skills 

6. Diet and nutrition practices for a healthy, functioning mind

7. Brain chemistry 

8. The scientific method 

9. Body-centered psychotherapy 

Emotional Hygiene coaching with these methods and modalities helps clients discover blocks—such as  unconscious safety behaviors and limiting beliefs—that are getting in the way of their ability to express  and use their emotions successfully.  

Developing an Emotional Hygiene practice leads to a deeper and more authentic connection with yourself and others, a greater sense of health and well-being, and an improved quality of life.  

Our goal as an Institute is more than training practitioners—we’re here to shift the norms, inspire people to learn for themselves, and coach others to achieve wellness, fulfill their potential, and live with more peace and happiness.  

We’re spurring a new culture of Emotional Hygiene and there’ll be many opportunities in the future for coach practitioners as we grow. 

This is a path to professional competency and success as a coach working with the practice of emotional hygiene. This training program happens in an 8-10 person cohort which allows for the added strength of closer bonds and the abundant support that a smaller training group can provide. The program can be completed in 15-18 months depending on student investment in internship practice. 

The training includes five distinct stages:

1. Classroom education (including mentored skills development).

2. Group mentored coaching practice.

3. Practice and evaluation leading to achievement of Associate status.

4. Up to 6 months of internship practice with real clients and real issues that also includes monthly supervision meetings designed to troubleshoot and fine-tune a student’s coaching development.

5. Evaluation for certification, culminating in Certification as a Practitioner of Emotional Hygiene Coaching.

Students are provided with a number of learning resources throughout the duration of the program:

1. Access to biweekly Labs (2-hour group peer sessions).

2. Dozens of hours of in-depth educational videos.

3. Paired partners for select homework exercises, support for self-development, and exchanging practice sessions.

4. An online community for your cohort.

5. Recordings of live classes for you to download and review.

6. Sources and suggested reading for further study of each topic. 

1. Introduction to principles of Emotional Hygiene and language of the body.

2. Presence, staying in the moment, and people reading. You’ll learn to set the container and create a coaching relationship with loving presence through nonverbal and unconscious language.

3. Emotions 101: Understanding emotions as the safety tools they are and learning to reliably recognize when they are present.

4. Attachment systems: learning safely to depend on others, individuating, knowing yourself, psychological, neurological, and nervous system structures, and the foundations of attachment science.

5. Boundary confusion: Study of boundary skills, maintenance, safe connections skills,  force/edge proficiency, warrior energy, and interpersonal dynamics.

6. Resentment clearing: Understanding resentment as anger and sorrow combined and how  to clear it stuck resentment.

7. Judgment: The role of the internal judge, jury, executioner and how to tame it.

8. Psychological trauma and identity wounds: loss of a belief in your own safety and how to  establish/re-establish it, and dealing with blocks or delays in learning to know who/what you are.

9. Human development and parts work: Healing wounds and finishing development.

10. Self-parenting: Being your own loving mother and father.

11. Brain chemistry: Foundations of relationship between diet and nutrition, gut health, brain chemistry, and emotions.

12. Code of ethics: How to carry and walk with these ways, knowledge, practices, and their  lineages in an ethical manner.

13. Your story as your pitch: How to successfully pitch yourself as a coach. 

While there are a wide variety of perspectives in training programs for coaches, this is a singular and intuitive approach for developing coaches who can lead clients into achieving mastery of human emotions, first by teaching our coaching students to recognize emotions as tools, each with their own nature and purpose, and then by fostering an understanding of the many ways they relate to and interact with daily life, long-term safety, and happiness. 

Emotional Hygiene Coaching passes the “don’t tell me - show me” test as it has been convincingly proven effective based on the reports of thousands of clients that Tim Westfeldt and trained Emotional Hygiene Coaches have worked with - who have repeatedly experienced real change - without it taking forever… 

Practical, hands-on experiential learning with safe, steady expert guidance starts in the first class and continues in increasing intensity throughout the training, culminating with 15 consecutive weeks of in-class mentored practice as both coach and client.

The ideas presented in this program are solidly grounded in the work of many well-respected researchers and thinkers in psychology and coaching fields. Relevant published materials in books or peer-reviewed empirical reporting are required reading and often cited or more thoroughly explored in the lessons.

All of the above - plus: 1) the wisdom of many teachers, mentors, clients and students past and present; 2) lessons from Tim Westfeldt’s unique and sometimes challenging life experiences; and 3) a dose of inspiration - gives you the Westfeldt Institute’s approach to the practice of emotional hygiene and to developing coaches who can foster it in their clients.

“Powerful, immediate, and effective! The Westfeldt Institute’s program is a self-contained model of coaching that can be applied with a very short amount of training. His techniques allow helping professionals to gain immediate access to client’s core needs, fears, and feelings, then collaborate with that client to overcome subconscious challenges that hinder their progress. The training was well delivered and effective.”

“Wary of any model that offers quick results I was hesitant to keep an open mind until I saw Tim demo this work. After training with this model of helping, I consistently see the most guarded of clients reach core issues in minutes instead of hours.”

1. This training is designed to be available to people living all over the world.

2. The course is delivered in the English language.

3. We use the Thinkific education platform to organize the program and house files, articles, reading recommendations and recorded course materials.

4. Live video classes are hosted on Zoom.

5. Training is delivered via:

   1. Oral tradition, transmission, and lecture.

   2. Experiential and embodied demonstrations, exercises, practices, and mentored coaching.

   3. The gift of getting it wrong and making mistakes without judgment as a way of getting it right.

6. We offer a variety of ways to reinforce, learn, practice, wrestle with, question, and generally engage with the material including: live classes, videos, documents, practice exercises, required and recommended reading, and mentored coaching.

There aren’t any required extra learning materials, however we do provide resource lists and suggestions for further reading that you can purchase wherever you buy books. 

Some students may need or want additional support, emotional or otherwise, which can come from  cohort members, connecting with instructors during biweekly Labs, or you can schedule time with any teaching staff at their regular coaching rates. 

You will need a computer or tablet with a reliable Internet connection (a smartphone is not sufficient).  The device must have a working camera and speakers or headphones. Ideally, you will also have access to an environment that offers privacy and minimum  background noise. We meet via Zoom, so you’ll need to download the most recent version if you don’t have it already.

To qualify for Certification, you will be expected to demonstrate the ability to schedule, meet, and bill clients, using online or offline tools. These administrative skills are part of learning how to manage a successful coaching practice.  The Institute will provide training via demonstration with a suite of optional professional software. Students who choose to use paid software will be responsible for any costs or fees associated with it.

The program comprises a 3 hour class per week, minus holidays and other breaks, with a total of 129 classroom hours throughout the course, including mentored coaching practice and evaluation. The weekly time commitment outside of class can range from 2-5 hours during the classroom education phase, spanning a course total of 135 lessons, and includes 32 hours in required bi-monthly labs. During the Associate phase, there is a required monthly 2 hour supervision meeting, and a minimum internship requirement for client contact hours that can average 3-5 hours per week depending on your availability.

The total fee for this program through becoming certified is $7,500. A $1,100 deposit is due before the first day of class to reserve a place in class. Class is limited to a maximum of 10 students on a first come/first served basis. The remaining $6,400 will be due in total within 30 days of the class start date. Monthly or quarterly no interest payment plans are also available allowing you to spread fee payment across 12 months from the class start date. 

Financially stressed? We strive to make our training programs and classes accessible to anyone who’s  interested in them. The best thing to do is reach out to us directly so we can consider modified payment plans or options for affordable packages. You won’t encounter judgment or pressure. We’ll do our best to find a solution. 

Emotional hygiene coaches typically report that this is satisfying and fulfilling work. How much you make as an Emotional Hygiene Coach is ultimately up to you. We help you get your practice started before certification by providing ideas and support from experience for your startup, and you are allowed to start getting paid right away for internship work within Institute guidelines. Beyond certification, starting ranges for monthly income are in your control. As much as $2,500-$5,000 per month for part time work or $5,000-$8,000 for full time work is possible once your practice is established. If you’re doing group coaching or teaching classes your income can go up from there. We’ll offer continuing education, mentoring, and support to help you succeed.  

We’re at the beginning of Emotional Hygiene as a field of coaching, so there will be many opportunities for you. While you can choose to work independently and create your own private  practice, it’s also possible to stay connected with the WIEH and assist in future trainings, paid mentoring of recent graduates of our programs, and certification to teach the entire course yourself. There will no doubt be new ideas and possibilities here that we haven’t even imagined yet.

Yes! You don’t have to be interested in a career as a coach to take this course.  Students have approached this course to begin a new career as an Emotional Hygiene practitioner, to enhance their existing career path, and to accelerate their personal development.

The information and  techniques will help in any field that involves working with people. It’s important that you’re  prepared to try on the role of being coach in our group sessions so you can practice using the methods with supervision. You will also be acting in the role of client so that your peers can practice, and this  typically provides high quality self-healing and growth opportunities leading to significant positive change for you.

The next cohort will begin when there are at least 8 people ready to join up to a maximum of 10 students. Contact the Westfeldt Institute to explore if this is right for you. 

We will have a waitlist for the next cohort after this one fills. 

Note: if there aren’t at least 8 fully enrolled students by 3 days before an established start date, then we will postpone the beginning of  the training until the cohort fills.  

The next training will take place on Tuesday mornings from  9am-12pm Pacific Time (PST or PDT).