The most common questions we are asked about coach certification, credentialing and accreditation. Time to get clear on it all!
Q1. Do I need to be certified to practice as a Professional Coach?
The short answer is no. Currently there are no national or international regulatory requirements for coaches that we know of. Coaches are generally treated like management consultants–invariably it is the client or customer who chooses their criteria for hiring or firing. Normally that includes qualification and experience (or a combination of both).
There have been several countries and states, however, that have attempted to bring in some sort of regulation similar to that required for psychologists or accountants. Because of that, it can be a good idea to do some research on your country or state. Contacting your local International Coach Federation (ICF) chapter is one place to start.
Q2. Why should I get certified or credentialed as a coach?
In the absence of any single regulatory body, several ‘accrediting’ and ‘credentialing’ bodies have opened. All these bodies have created some sort of standards framework by which they measure the quality of coaches and coaching training programs. Not only is this good for the development of the profession, it is also very useful for clients looking to hire a coach. It provides a guide, a way of separating out the serious coaches from the hobbyists.
ICF (International Coach Federation) is one such accrediting body. Other significant players are IAC, the International Association of Coaching, and EMCC, the European Mentoring and Coaching Council.
ICF is the largest and most prominent of the three, having accredited 100’s of coach training schools and tens of thousands of coaches, and is arguably the world leader in setting coaching standards and in building a cadre of coaches worldwide who embrace those standards.
Q3. What’s the difference between accreditation, a credential, and certification?
Yes, this can get confusing. Since we abide by ICF’s standards, ethics and credentialing process, here are the 3 main terms they use and what they mean:
1. Accreditation
Programs get accredited, not people. When ICF accredits or approves a training program, that means they have examined it and assessed its quality against their core coaching competencies and their coach training standards.
Taking an accredited coach training program is one of three application paths to coach credentialing that ICF offers and which you choose from: Level 1 Accreditation, Level 2 Accreditation, and the Portfolio Path.
The fundamental difference between Level 1 and 2 is that Level 1 is a program with 60-124 coach-specific training hours (also called ‘contact learning hours’), whereas Level 2 is 125-175 hours.
The Portfolio Path is the third option, and is the path we offer here at the Center. The ICF Portfolio application path requires ACC applicants to have completed at least 60 hours of coach-specific training.
The quality of a training program is not determined by a program’s level designation. It is only the number of hours of training that separates the three paths.
Our Deep Coaching Portfolio Program is an “approved” (not “accredited”) coach training program, and therefore meets all ICF coach training requirements for an ACC credential application, just like any Level 1/2 program does.
A key understanding here is that when it comes to ICF and your coach training journey, you have options. And you do not need to invest significant time and expense into an Level 1/2 program in order to learn coach effectively or apply for an ACC coaching credential.
2. Credentialing
The ICF issues credentials to trained and experienced coaches. They have 3 levels of coach credentialing: ACC, PCC and MCC:
Associate Certified Coach (ACC) The Associate Certified Coach credential is for the practiced coach with at least 100 hours of client coaching experience, and who has at least 60 hours of coach-specific training (as our Deep Coaching Portfolio Program offers).
Professional Certified Coach (PCC) The Professional Certified Coach credential is for the proven coach with at least 500 hours of client coaching experience, and who has at least 125 hours of coach-specific training.
Master Certified Coach (MCC) The Master Certified Coach credential is for the expert coach with at least 2,500 hours of client coaching experience, and who has at least 200 hours of coach-specific training.
Ten hours of mentor coaching is also required, for all three levels of credential.
3. Certification
Certificates are issued to graduating students by their coach training school. In other words, individual training schools issue their own coach training certificates.
In our case, when you graduate from the Deep Coaching Intensive, you will be certified as a Deep Transformational Coach. This is available to all coaches who meet our assessment and completion requirements.
Q4. I don’t want to get a coach certification or credential now. I just want to start coaching. Is that OK?
That’s perfectly fine, and a lot of our participants take this path. Once you complete the DCI, you will automatically receive certification as a Deep Transformational Coach. A coaching credential, however, is always optional.
Our recommendation is that you train via our Deep Coaching Portfolio Program so that when you do want to apply for an ICF ACC credential you can, without the need for any further coach training.
Also, our DCI participants don’t wait until they finish training before they coach clients, we encourage them to do that throughout the program. Even if you are not yet credentialed with the ICF, just being able to tell your clients that you are enrolled in an ICF approved training program gives you credibility
The benefits to you as a coach are:
▪️ Enhances your credibility and reassures potential clients that you are a professional coach
▪️ Demonstrates that you stand by a code of ethics
▪️ Demonstrates a solid knowledge and skill level
▪️ Reinforces the integrity of the coaching profession.
Q5. Do I need a local qualification?
Our answer is the same, no matter what country you come from. Coaching is a global profession, and by that we mean that your clients can come from all over the world. Since most coaching nowadays is conducted online, there is usually no need to meet face to face.
The exception to this is executive or corporate coaching, where the company or executive may require coaching to be face to face (but even that can move to online coaching once all parties see the benefit).
Most countries, international companies and government bodies have heard of the ICF. Once you explain the rigorous evaluation involved with an ICF credential, we find that most clients are satisfied. For this reason, it far more valuable to align yourself with an international qualification and credential than a local one.
If you have any further questions on any of this, be sure to contact us. We’re happy to help!
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Comments 10
Good afternoon! Does your ACC program serve as a foundation if I were to decide to move forward with ACTP or ACATH at a later time? Can it be a foundation to build on to get to a PCC level certification, or would I need to start over with a different training g program if I decided to do this?
Author
Hi Amy, the way ACC credentialing works is that you need to accrue a certain number of training hours. The difference between ICF’s three paths is that under the Portfolio Path you can use what are called Continuing Coach Education Units (CCEUs) to apply. You need 60 CCEUs, which usually equates to 60 hours. There are some criteria as to whether those are Core Competencies or Resource Development, and how many are synchronous vs. asynchronous learning, however our DC Portfolio Program meets all those criteria. You would not have to take another training program to apply for an ACC.
To get to PCC, and you can read the details here (https://bit.ly/3iOoJdd), you can continue on the Portfolio Path. You will need 125 CCEUs (hours) of coach training using CCEUs, and in that case at some point you would take an additional coach training (or more) to gain the remaining 65 CCEUs you would need. As an example, if you take our Deepening Practice course following the DCI, you would gain an additional 20 that you can put towards your PCC application.
My understanding, however, is that you cannot switch paths from ACTP/ACSTH to Portfolio, or vice versa, because only Portfolio counts the training in CCEUs, the other programs count coach training HOURS. If you embark on either one, you need to complete your training on that path.
Do let us know if you have more questions!
How can I start getting clients? My fear is that after going through this course there is no one to teach us how to get real life clients to work with.
Author
That’s a great question Kegan, and you’re correct in observing that client acquisition and coach business building is not a part of the Deep Coaching Intensive. In our Life Coaching Basics e-course, however, we do provide some structure and guidance around how to do that, however it is not an in-depth course because our work here at the Center is Deep Transformational Coach training. And there are many excellent teachers and organizations out there that specialize in the client acquisition side of the equation.
My recommendation, however, is that you first take our training program and then start searching for a course or program that offers in-depth teaching and instruction on how to get clients and build a business. The reason I say that is because our program changes people fundamentally, from the inside out, and often once they become more alive, confident and aligned within themselves, they make very different choices than they would have before our program. Their values shift, their worldview shifts, and the way they believe they must build their business (often based initially on conventional ideas of how it should be done) also changes dramatically. So it makes good sense to wait on learning how to build a business or get clients once your inner game is solid.
In our program our goal is to get you practicing coaching though, both with people in the course as well as outside. This is actually the first step in building the confidence to attaining clients on-going. And as you grow in confidence, you will naturally want to offer your services to people, inviting them to experience coaching with you. This is the second step, and it is from here, once you can confidently invite people to experience your work that you client base will really start to grow. So in this way, in our program we are creating the foundation for client acquisition.
Hello
If I complete both the Foundation and Mastery will that equate to 60 hours of learning required for the ACC credential eligibility?
Author
No, not exactly Padmaja. It will equate to 40 hours. You gain the additional 20 hours by bundling the DCI (Foundation & Mastery components) with Life Coaching Basics. This is our DC Portfolio Program, which you can find outlined here: https://www.centerfortransformationalcoaching.com/transformational-coach-training-acc-credential/
Hi there!
I’m an American citizen currently staying in the Philippines until I return to the US February 2025. That said, I was wondering if this course is fully online and if I would be able to take it while outside the country.
Thanks for your time!
Rose
Author
Absolutely yes! Our programs are fully online. People can join from wherever they are in the world, as long as they have a good internet connection.
Also, I saw on the website where it says the course is IFC approved but not IFC accredited. I imagined a scenario where future clients might ask me specifically why it’s not accredited, so I was wondering if I could get some clear, direct information on that. 🙂
Thanks again!
Author
Happy to answer your question Rose.
ICF offers coach training organizations a few different pathways for having courses ‘approved’ for coach training hours that can then be used for credential application.
Level 1 & 2 are two of the pathways, and once an organization has gone through the process, the organization itself is considered ‘accredited’. Their course is approved as part of the larger process of accrediting the organization.
The third pathway is the Portfolio Path, and this is the one the Center has chosen. This path does not require an organization itself to be accredited. Rather ICF approves the course/program itself, ensuring they meet all ICF standards and practices. Specifically, those courses, once approved, offer participants Continuing Coach Education Units. Once a person has accrued 60 CCEUs (equivalent to 60 coach training hours) they have all the coach training hours needed to apply for their ICF ACC credential.
Level 1/2 accredited organizations usually offer coach training programs that have more than 60 hours, which is useful if you have a longer term intention to apply for ICF’s PCC or MCC credentials, which require more training hours. Level 1/2 approved programs also bake into the program additional pieces required by ICF for the ACC credential application, such as Mentor Coaching hours (10) and session assessments.
However, 60 hours is the minimum amount of coach training hours needed to apply for an ACC credential. The differences between Level 1/2 and Portfolio Path are not related to the quality of training nor the course content itself (the same standards apply for all courses), the difference is in the number of coach training hours and whether Mentor Coaching and assessment is included.
In our Deep Coaching Portfolio program, using ICF’s ACC Portfolio Path, we provide all the necessary coach training hours. However Mentor Coaching would be a separate investment, which allows you to have the choice of where to take that (with us or someone else) and when to take it (the timing is yours to choose, where it won’t be in Level 1/2 programs).
I hope that helps, let me know if you have further questions.