Coach Training

  Coaches come from all walks of life and with many different qualifications and life experiences. There is no one ‘ideal’ educational background for a coach - although most coach schools would agree that it helps if you are a "people" person!

  The training you choose can take anything from a few weeks to a several years, and should be an ongoing process if you are to keep up with new developments in coaching.

  Most coach schools suggest and encourage you to begin coaching (often without pay or at very reduced rates) while you are still training, to build up your experience and confidence.

  Enrolling on a general coaching course will provide you with an overall understanding of coaching, and also an introduction to some of the specialised coaching disciplines and techniques – personal coaching, executive coaching, NLP etc. – which should provide you with the means to judge which, if any,  specialized form of coaching you wish to practice.

  Playing to your strengths, interests and experience should always be a guiding principle for how you develop your coaching profession and practice.

  Remember that as a professional you will be required to provide a service that caters to individuals and their individual needs and expectations – more so than in many other professions. Only you can know whether you will be able to provide that service in all its various empowering forms.

Coach training is offered by an increasing number of sources, both online and off, in many different forms, including:

• University courses
• Intensive training from coaching schools
• Email and telephone courses
• Home study

As coaching becomes increasingly accepted as a valuable discipline, we hoped that there will be a united approach to evaluating different coach training and accreditation from the various bodies such as the ICF, the Association for Coaching etc. (Read this interesting article about Certification here and see also our thread at CoachVillage.com). At the moment there are various different qualifications and certifications available.

Articles about Coach Training and Coaching Schools