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“I teach people how to curate their own care to overcome complex illnesses.”
~ Tenay Benes

What is a Care Curation Coach?

In 2014, when I couldn’t go on another day the way I was living my life, I was the person who needed a Care Curation Coach. I had complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD), chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), and a stack of other diagnoses that no single specialist could untangle. I was bouncing between providers who each handled their slice of my health, but nobody was helping me see the whole picture, much less actually heal.

It took me ten years and over twenty therapies across all seven parts of a person’s health (spiritual, psychological, physiological, environmental, capital, social, and influential) to find my way to where I am today: a thriving daughter of God, wife, mom, and impact entrepreneur on a mission to improve complex illness health outcomes. As much as I wish there had been a shorter path, what I learned along the way helped me become the person who can help so many others better navigate the full care ecosystem, and this is what I now offer to you.

Complex illness rarely fits inside one specialty, one diagnosis, or one care professional. It affects your nervous system, immune system, hormones, environment, relationships, finances, and sense of purpose — all at once. Yet most care coordination systems are built around billing categories, not whole-person healing.

A Care Curation Coach is built for the reality
of how a complex illness healing journey actually works.

Care Coaches serve complex illness sufferers and their caregivers who want to improve their complex illness outcomes. Complex illnesses affect more than one system of a person’s body and more than one area of a person’s life. Complex illnesses include chronic illness (e.g. heart disease, diabetes), developmental illness (e.g. ASD, ADHD), and event-triggered illness (e.g. traumatic brain injury, long COVID).

“Tenay Benes has been a fantastic care coach for our family. We are so blessed to have found her! She has been providing the best support and guidance to our daughter, who has been diagnosed with a complex chronic condition, that includes autism, adhd, intellectual disability and hearing loss. Tenay has helped, not only setting up appointments, but also being there for extra support. She has provided us with personalized resources and reading materials for education. Every week we get together for a check-in on how our journey is progressing. Tenay has connected us with other professionals and therapists, that can help my daughter with her long-term care. We are excited to see how far our daughter can go, now that Tenay is helping us discover new possibilities! Forever thankful!”
~ Fabiana P. (original review)

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What does a Care Coach do?

A Care Coach combines five existing roles into one: a care navigator, a care coordinator, a case manager, a holistic health coach, and—if needed—an independent patient advocate.

Care Coaches have a singular purpose: to help you curate and navigate your complex illness healing journey unto healing! This allows you to build a collaborative healing team that gives you coordinated care to get you from stuck to healing. This approach is the gold-standard for complex illness care and increases your likelihood of being fully cured.

Typical tasks that a Care Coach performs include:

• Giving classes on how the coaching and advocacy relationships work to get you the best results, with a focus on you as the most powerful member in your healing team
• Teaching about the complex illness healing journey and the traits of collaborative care professionals
• Sharing about all the care professionals who say they treat the symptoms you have including:
  • Those in the health, wellness, and human services sectors
  • Those across Western, Eastern, Integrative, and Holistic care models
  • Those who treat all seven parts of your health (spiritual, psychological, physiological, environmental, capital, social, and influential health)
  • More than your primary care manager will ever tell you
• Helping you find (or finding for you) care professionals who fit your preferences and your budget
• Coming with you to the first appointment or to all appointments, if you would like
• Helping you devise lifestyle strategies to cooperate with your care professionals—including going grocery shopping, or cooking with you
• Advocating on your behalf if your experience with a care professional, employer, or insurance company is not meeting your needs, if you so request it
• Promoting collaboration and communication between your entire healing team including your healers and your supporters
• Helping caregivers with their functions to promote well-being for all people in the healing team
• Conducting periodic check-ins to see how you are doing and feeling
• Celebrating successes and encouraging you to achieve your goals in small, bite-size portions, if needed
• Walking with you in your healing journey—in the tears, in the shouts, in the frustration, in the victory

These activities can be done in person or virtually

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How long does Care Curation Coaching last?

Healing complex illness is not a 90-day program.

The research on health coaching for chronic conditions consistently shows that sustained outcomes — the kind that last after coaching ends — come from sustained engagement.

That said, you don’t need the same intensity of support forever. Most clients who choose Individual Care Coaching move through three phases:

Activation: 12x weekly sessions over weeks 1-12

This is the building phase. We’re assessing where you are, identifying the gaps in your current care, finding the right professionals, and getting your healing team assembled. You’ll also learn how to drive your healing team rather than be driven by it. Big change requires lots of support so in this phase, you will have lots of access to your Care Coach. This phase is required.

Integration: 6x bi-weekly sessions over weeks 13-24

Your team is in place. Now we’re refining it, troubleshooting what isn’t working, and building your self-advocacy muscles so you can speak up at appointments, push back on insurance, and ask for what you need. This phase is recommended.

Maintenance: 6x monthly sessions over months 7-12

Healing is rarely linear. The maintenance phase exists to course-correct when things shift — a flare, a new symptom, a provider change, a life event. Many clients tell me this is when the deep integration work actually happens, because they have enough stability to look at the bigger picture. This phase is optional.

The duration of each session depends upon whether you choose independent, group, or self-care coaching.

Most people benefit from both the Activation and Integration phases, which is 18 sessions over 24 weeks. Some people also benefit from the Maintenance phase, which totals 24 sessions over 12 months. However, what you do is up to you. You can stop after Activation; you can stop after Integration; or, you can keep going until you feel you’ve received the benefit you’re looking for. Everything on my end is an invitation; you get to decide what works for you.

Rollover policy: Life with complex illness means committing to a regular schedule can be hard some weeks. That’s why, you can rollover up to 2 sessions within the same phase. Unfortunately, sessions don’t transfer between phases—the cadence is part of what makes each phase work.

Medical pause: If a flare up, hospitalization, or other major health event makes coaching impossible, you can pause your program for up to 2 months with a brief note from a care professional. We’ll resume right where we left off when you return.

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How Much Does a Care Curation Coach Cost?

How much it costs depends on the type of care coaching you need—group, individual, or self-coaching.

Independent care coaching and patient advocacy service fees typically run $150–$300 per hour in the U.S., and as much as $500 per hour in major cities. I’ve kept my rates in the lower-middle of that range because families with complex illnesses are already drowning in medical costs, and I don’t want to add to that burden. I’ve also built in discounts and pay-it-forward options for those in financial crisis, because I remember being the person who couldn’t have afforded help like this when I needed it most.

How much does Individual Care Coaching cost?

In Individual Care Coaching, you receive one-on-one coaching, exclusively. This is the most personalized option because every session is built entirely around you.

Introductory Offer
$250 for email-based survey, 90-minute initial, virtual assessment with emailed report within 7 days

Monthly Retainer
$750 per month for 4x 60-minute virtual sessions plus free online courseware and handouts

Additional Time 
$185 per hour*

* Plus travel for in-person appointments & house visits at GSA rate

How much does Group Care Coaching cost?

In Group Care Coaching, you receive coaching in a cohort of 3 to 5 others with similar symptoms or diagnoses. It’s more affordable than Individual Care Coaching, gives you the same personalized care, and gets you something the individual program can’t give you: the healing journeys of others walking beside you, and a built-in social support group.

Introductory Offer
$140 for email-based survey, 60-minute initial, virtual assessment with emailed report within 7 days

Monthly Retainer
$250 per month for 4x 90-minute virtual sessions plus free online courseware and handouts

Additional Time 
$100 per hour*

* Plus travel for in-person appointments & house visits at GSA rate

Cohort minimum: Group Care Coaching cohorts start once 3 clients are enrolled with similar symptoms or diagnoses. If your cohort hasn’t reached 3 enrolled members yet, you’ll either be matched into an existing cohort, placed on a short waitlist, or offered a temporary discount on Individual Care Coaching while we build your group.

How much does Self-Care Coaching cost?

In Self-Care Coaching, you drive your own healing journey using the courseware and handouts I’ve developed, at a pace that works for you, with email-based check-ins from your care coach. This is the most affordable option and is designed for people who are mostly stable, comfortable directing their own care, and want a knowledgeable thought partner in their corner.

Introductory Offer
$100 for email-based initial survey with 30-min virtual follow-up and emailed report within 7 days

Monthly Retainer
$100 per month for online courseware and handouts (no check-ins)

Additional Time 
$75 per hour via email (for questions)

Do you accept insurance or cost-sharing programs?

Although it is our goal to accept insurance or cost-sharing programs, we do not yet have that capability. We’re working on it.

Do you offer sliding-scale or discounts?

Yes. We offer 10% discounts to Military and Veterans.

We also offer a pay-it-forward option for people in financial crisis, who can receive services for whatever amount they can afford now, and then donate when they have more money in the future so that someone else in crisis can receive discounted services. Our goal is to set up a 501(c)(3) charitable organization for these donations in the future.

Which payment options do you accept?

We accept cash and credit/debit cards.

“…Not only has she helped me learn… but she has also been a source of God’s healing for me. Only a couple of months after we met, she prayed with me for healing and reintegration of trauma wounds. Not only did I feel safe, respected, and loved, but she implemented godly wisdom to make sure that the prayer process would not stir up too much without giving me the resources I needed to process… That one prayer session began for me a season of healing that has restored my belief in God’s complete and utter faithfulness.”
~ Fr. Christopher Gaffrey, OFM (original review)

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Can I Become a Certified Care Curation Coach?

Our professional certification track is in development. It will include a comprehensive curriculum, supervised practicum hours, and a recognized credential for care coaches. It will include:

• Online program
• Comprehensive curriculum
• Evidence-based coaching methodology
• Self-paced courses
• Cohort discussion (learn with a group of peers)
• Verifiable certification on your profile
• Recognized credential for provider continuing education

Care Curation Coaching Certification courses coming soon.

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“About 3 years ago I had a “dark night of the soul”. I was really struggling with my relationship with God, among other things. For weeks and months I would contact Tenay… [to] talk me through a lot of the junk that I was struggling with. …[she] has really helped me overcome some of the darkest periods of my life when I thought I had lost everything…”
~ Lee Ammerman (original review)

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