Why lifestyle therapy? It takes discipline and insight to improve your lifestyle. A lifestyle therapist looks at the whole picture and helps guide you to improve behavior, which can lead to a healthier life and reduce symptoms and diseases. Furthermore, improving your lifestyle can result in better recovery from physical complaints, reduced medication use, fewer visits to the (family) doctor, and fewer hospitalizations.  

What can you expect from SMC Rijnland Lifestyle Therapy?

Lifestyle can be divided into sleep, nutrition, exercise, and psychosocial factors. During lifestyle therapy, focus is placed on one or more aspects of your lifestyle. The lifestyle therapist will analyze your current lifestyle and provide lifestyle therapy based on that analysis. Lifestyle therapy is characterized by a step-by-step and personalized approach that may include dietary advice, sleep coaching, exercise recommendations, physical training, as well as time, stress, and energy management.

Lifestyle therapy during the physiotherapy process

Our lifestyle therapist is also a (sports) physiotherapist and therefore has knowledge and skills that can further assist you. Lifestyle therapy can be used as a supportive component of the physiotherapy process. Improving lifestyle during physical complaints and rehabilitation can contribute to recovery.The lifestyle therapist works from a holistic approach to your recovery. The lifestyle therapist collaborates with all physiotherapists at SMC Rijnland, as well as with a movement scientist, rehabilitation scientist, nutrition specialist, sleep coach, personal trainer, and physician. 

Lifestyle therapy for everyone scientifically proven

Improving aspects of lifestyle has been proven effective for chronic pain, diabetes, problematic blood values in cardiovascular diseases, obesity, and chronic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. Lifestyle improvement has also been scientifically proven effective in preventing symptoms and diseases. This is called preventive healthcare. Athletes benefit from improving their lifestyle to prevent symptoms, strengthen the immune system, enhance performance, and engage in healthier sports practices. 

Certified lifestyle therapist In 2023, the SMC Academy, in collaboration with The Health Fundament, developed the basic HBO lifestyle therapy training. The lifestyle therapist is an HBO healthcare professional who integrates lifestyle into their treatment. Lifestyle therapist Jaap Wonders is the instructor for this training for HBO healthcare professionals.