Denise Ernst, PhD, MS, MA
Lead Coaching Sciences Trainer
[email protected]
Dr. Denise Ernst provides curriculum development and training for the Clinical Health
Coach® Training Program in facilitating behavior change with a specific focus on
Motivational Interviewing (MI).
Most recently, Dr. Ernst served as Vice President, Health Management Services, for Health Future, LLC. In this role, she oversaw a team of MI health coaches that provided services for employee wellness programs. Previously she worked at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland, Oregon, where she served in a variety of positions, including health behavior interventionist, intervention director, manager of health behavior clinic, and project director. The research focused on finding effective behavioral interventions for prevention and treatment of hypertension, cancer, diabetes, and other chronic illnesses.
Dr. Ernst received her doctorate at the University of New Mexico, where her dissertation evaluated the integration of MI into a health coaching program conducted by a large national health insurance company from both a qualitative and a quantitative approach. She was also involved in Project EMMEE and Project ELICIT, both NIH-funded randomized trials conducted at the University of New Mexico and focused on evaluating the effectiveness of training in MI.
For the Clinical Health Coach® Training Program, Dr. Ernst will serve as lead faculty for topics related to health coaching for behavior change and self-management support.