| Course | HW450 Applied Health Coaching |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 5 |
| Paper type | Session analysis |
| Length | About 850 words, 6 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Health and Wellness |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HW450 Unit 5
Session Four, Minute by Minute: A Unit 5 Annotated Analysis of a Coaching Session After a Hard Week
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
HW450: Applied Health Coaching
Unit 5 Session Analysis
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The session is composite and written for teaching; it is not a recording of a real session. The sources cited are real.
Segment One: Check-In, Minutes 0 to 5
Teresa opened by saying, "I blew it this week." Her mother had fallen on Tuesday, she had spent Wednesday in urgent care and she had eaten takeout four nights. Her readings that week averaged 138/88, slightly higher than the week before.
Coach response. "That sounds like an exhausting week. Before we talk about anything else, how is your mom, and how are you?"
Annotation. Coaching is defined in part by a relationship centered on the client's own goals and wellbeing (Wolever et al., 2013), and starting with the person rather than the plan, and responding to distress before data, protects the relationship. Asking about her own wellbeing also opens the check-in on mood and safety that the program requires.
Segment Two: Reviewing the Week, Minutes 5 to 12
Coach. "You said you blew it. What did you manage to keep, even partly?"
Teresa. "I walked with Mom on Sunday and Monday, before she fell. I made the lunches on Sunday. And I did the tea twice."
Coach. "So even in a week with a fall and an urgent care visit, you walked twice, prepared lunches and did the tea twice."
Annotation. Asking what was kept, rather than what failed, is an evocative question that shifts attention to her capability. The reflection lists her successes back to her without exaggeration. Miller and Rollnick (2013) treat reflecting back a client's own change efforts as one of the ways a helper builds her belief that change is possible.
Segment Three: Exploring the Setback, Minutes 12 to 20
Coach. "What got in the way this week?"
Teresa. "The fall. And then I just stopped caring."
Coach. "When your mom fell, all your energy went to her, and there wasn't any left for the plan."
Teresa. "Yes. And I felt like a failure on top of it."
Coach. "Can I tell you what I've noticed about weeks like this?" She agreed. "A hard week doesn't erase the habits you've built. Most people's progress has weeks like this. What matters is what you do next week."
Annotation. The reflection named the cause without blame. Asking permission before reframing the setback protected her autonomy. Research on coaching outcomes shows that gains often hold or improve after programs end even when the path is uneven (Ahmann et al., 2023), which supports treating one bad week as part of the process.
The most useful thing in the session was not a new strategy; it was showing Teresa that a bad week was information, not a verdict.
Segment Four: Planning, Minutes 20 to 27
Coach. "What would make next week a little easier?"
Teresa. "If my sister could do two evenings instead of one. And maybe two frozen meals instead of trying to make all three lunches."
Coach. "So you're adjusting the plan for a week when your mom needs more of you."
Annotation. Teresa generated her own adjustments. The coach reflected them as a choice rather than a retreat. Lowering the bar during a crisis protects her self-efficacy.
Segment Five: Summary and Close, Minutes 27 to 30
Coach. Summarized her week, her successes, the reason for the setback and her two adjustments, and asked if anything was missing. She added that she wanted to ask her mother's doctor about fall prevention, which is outside coaching and was noted for her to raise herself.
Skills Checklist
Open questions: used throughout, about 70 percent of questions. Reflections: frequent, including complex reflections. Affirmations: specific and tied to effort. Asking permission: once, before reframing. Summary: complete, corrected by the client. Medical boundaries: her mother's fall and her own readings were not interpreted. Rating against the program's checklist: 4 of 5 on each skill except closed questions, rated 3.
Two Moments to Handle Differently
First, in segment two I asked two closed questions in a row about the lunches ("Did you make all three? Did you eat them?"), which felt like a checklist. An open question, "How did the lunches go?", would have invited more.
Second, her readings had risen, and I did not mention them. Avoiding the numbers may have seemed kind, but she had recorded them for a reason. Next time I will ask what she noticed about her readings, letting her interpret them in her own words, and remind her that her physician is the one to judge them.
Conclusion
The session turned a week Teresa called a failure into a plan for a harder week. The skills that mattered most were starting with the person, asking what was kept, reflecting without blame, offering a reframe with permission and letting her adjust her own plan. Two closed questions and the avoided blood pressure readings are the moments to improve.
References
Ahmann, E., Saviet, M., Conboy, L., Smith, K., Iachini, B., & DeMartin, R. (2023). Health and wellness coaching and sustained gains: A rapid systematic review. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 18(2), 162-180. https://doi.org/10.1177/15598276231180117
Miller, W. R., & Rollnick, S. (2013). Motivational interviewing: Helping people change (3rd ed.). Guilford Press.
Wolever, R. Q., Simmons, L. A., Sforzo, G. A., Dill, D., Kaye, M., Bechard, E. M., Southard, M. E., Kennedy, M., Vosloo, J., & Yang, N. (2013). A systematic review of the literature on health and wellness coaching: Defining a key behavioral intervention in healthcare. Global Advances in Health and Medicine, 2(4), 38-57. https://doi.org/10.7453/gahmj.2013.042
What the HW450 Unit 5 assignment asks for
Unit 5 typically asks for an annotated analysis of one coaching session. Divide the session into segments, show what was said and explain in annotations why each skill was used and what effect it had. A session after a setback often makes the strongest analysis, because it tests skills under pressure. Instructors look for honest self-assessment, often against a skills checklist, and for specific moments the coach would handle differently. Composite sessions should be labeled as such. The annotations should connect choices to coaching principles or research rather than only naming techniques. A brief summary of what the session achieved for the client closes the analysis, and the improvements named should be specific enough to practice next time.
How the HW 450 Unit 5 example is put together
The worksheet presents the session in five timed segments. The check-in shows the coach responding to Teresa's distress and her mother's fall before data. The review asks what she kept and reflects her successes back. The setback segment names the cause without blame, offers a reframe with permission and includes a highlighted line that a bad week was information, not a verdict. The planning segment lets her propose her sister's extra evening and two frozen meals instead of three home lunches. The close summarizes and notes a fall-prevention question for her mother's doctor as outside coaching. A checklist rates each skill, and two improvements are named: an open question about lunches and asking what she noticed in her readings.
Where the points sit in the HW450 Unit 5 rubric
Session analyses earn their points through accurate annotation and self-critique. Each segment should show what was said and why. Graders reward annotations that link choices to principles, such as autonomy or self-efficacy, and to evidence. A skills checklist with honest ratings demonstrates reflective practice. Naming specific moments to improve, with better alternatives, earns more than general intentions. Scope should be visible, for example in how medical concerns were handled. Labeling composite material protects confidentiality. The worksheet's last points come from listing Miller and Rollnick, Wolever and colleagues and Ahmann and colleagues correctly in APA 7. Timing each segment helps the reader see where the session's minutes actually went.
Common HW450 Unit 5 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Session analyses often annotate only what went well, which reads as self-promotion. Another weakness is labeling techniques without explaining why each was chosen at that moment. Some writers skip the self-rating or rate every skill as excellent. Medical concerns raised by the client are sometimes handled as coaching topics instead of referrals. Analyses without a summary of what the session achieved leave the reader unsure of its purpose. Before writing, listen to or reread one session and mark the three moments when the client's tone changed. Share the session, and the annotations can be drafted with you. Leaving the session's least comfortable moment out of the analysis is the most common way to lose the reflective credit.
Get an HW450 Unit 5 example written to your instructions
Send the session content and the instructions with the rubric. A custom analysis annotates the session and reflects on the coach's choices. The first one costs nothing, back within 24-48h. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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HW450 Unit 5 questions, answered
Can the session be composite?
Yes, if the prompt allows; label it as composite.
What should the annotations explain?
Why each skill was used at that moment and what effect it had.
Should I score myself?
Some prompts ask for a self-rating against a skills checklist.
Where can I find a free HW450 Unit 5 sample paper?
The complete HW450 Unit 5 session analysis can be found on this page, annotating a coaching session held after a client's hard week with a skills checklist and two improvements.
What would the coach change in the HW450 Unit 5 sample?
Replacing two closed questions about lunches with one open question, and asking what the client noticed in her rising readings instead of avoiding them.