Becoming certified as a life coach can be a good investment of both your time and money. A certificate gives you trust in the eyes of your prospects and your colleagues.

However, there are a few things you should keep in mind, and consider before you decide on if, when, and where to get your life coach certification. On this site we will cover:

• If it it necessary to get certified
• How to get certified
• Where to get life coach certification
• Where you can find accredited and trusted programs
• Requirements before you can get certified
• Cost of training/certification

I don’t know whether you are new to coaching or have been doing it for some time, so therefore I have tried to write this website as a resource for both beginners and newcomers, and hopefully you will find what you are looking for no matter where you come from.

To Get Certificated Or To Not Get Certified

One important thing to consider is whether you want certification because of the training or the credibility it will give you. Let me explain what I mean by that…

It is important to note that you don’t need to get a life coach certification to call yourself a coach. As far as I know, no county in the word requires you to have an education, certification, or similar to legally call yourself a life coach. So, what does this mean for you…?

This is where the difference between training and credibility comes in. You can get training from a lot of places, and the best training available is not necessarily from a university or a certification institute. As a life coach you have the opportunity to learn from the best, and structure your own education. You can read book, attend seminars, and take courses.

Maybe you are just naturally good at helping people, and people come to your for advice when they have a problem and want a solution. This is a great start. View this article for info on training alternatives:

As far as credibility goes, there are many reasons as to why you would want to get certified. If you plan to work for someone – where in other words – you are not your own boss, a certification can be a good idea. Some employers might even require it.

It is never a bad idea to get certified, but note that having a certificate will not by itself bring you new clients.

If you are new to coaching, I would not worry too much about getting a certificate right now. Getting certified takes anywhere from a few months to several years, and in that time you could have built a thriving business.

If you on the other hand have been coaching for some time, and want to build on what you know and take things to the next level, then read on.

Getting Certified – What You Need To Know

Before I get any further, I have to stress that you should get your certificate from the ICF (the International Coach Federation). The ICF is a non-profit organization who’s sole purpose is to advance the quality and maintain high quality of coaches and coaching training, by having individuals and training institutions live up to their high standards in order to get their stamp of approval.

There are two ways through which you can get a ICF certificate.

1. Through an ACTP application
2. Through A Portfolio application

Only the ACTP application require you to actually enroll in a training course accredited by the ICF. If you apply through a portfolio application you have to meet several requirements (view link bellow) that can be difficult to meet. Both the ACTP and portfolio application require that you have a minimum of 100 hours of coaching experience with paying clients before you receive your credentials.

If you already have had some training, see if you satisfy the requirements for the portfolio application, or what you need to do to meet them. I recommend that you look through the requirements and decide for yourself which one to go for.

Read more about the various requirements on their website: Becoming certified requirements.

The ICF requirements has become the standard for quality coaching training, and is recognized all over the world as the gold standard. You can get certified a lot of places, but only ICF accredited training will give universally recognized trust to your name.

You can find a constantly updated list over accredited courses on the ICF website: Accredited coaching training program search

By going through with training that is accredited by the ICF you will end up with 2 certificates; one from the school, the other one from ICF.

When choosing a program, you can select one that is tailored specifically toward life coaching, although some institutions may call this by a different name.

As you know, you can specialize your coaching practice. Some focus on business coaching, others on ADHD and concentration coaching, and so on. As a life coach, your goal is to help people get from where they are in their lives, to where they want to be. Help them with figuring out what they want to do with their lives, give them the confidence to do it, and help them with strategies that will help them follow through with their plans.

You may want to take several accredited coaching programs over the course of a few years. Doing this, you make sure what you learn is actually tried and tested, and will give you a wide range of different certificates.

The cost

The cost of getting a life coach certification can vary greatly, depending on a few factors. You can pay anywhere from around $1000 to $10000 to get certified. This will depend on where you take your training, what form of training you participate in (distance or in-person learning), and the length of the course.

I hope this article helped clear things up. Feel free to take a look around this website for more information on becoming a life coach.