What is Required to Become a Certified and Credentialed Coach?
Over the last several weeks, I’ve been asked this question at least a handful of times:
“What is required to become a certified and credentialed Coach?”
I love sharing my journey to become an ACC credentialed Coach because it was an amazing journey, no small feat, and when looking back, it truly felt like the most fruitful and best way for me to personally go about it. However, everyone is different and what worked for me may not work or be the most fruitful for someone else.
Obtaining my Coaching certification/credential was part of my career development plan. I knew it was important in taking my Coaching practice to the next level. I learned about the ICF and researched hundreds of accredited organizations to obtain training and narrowed it down to just three to interview. Choosing Mentor Coach was easy as the staff was fantastic and the program fit my needs.
Coach training through Mentor Coach is usually about 18 months long with a requirement of 135 training hours, which means you’re actually trained up to the second credential level (PCC) and just need to obtain 500 hours to secure it (I’m not quite there). The third and highest level is MCC with 2500 required coaching hours. You can not clock your hours until you begin your training program.
Many classes required homework and coaching practice. I decided to take the MentorCoach/Executive Coach certification track. Courses included Foundations, Ethics, Intense Skills, Executive Coaching, Assessments, Small Business Coaching, Supervision, Career Coaching, amongst others.
MentorCoach also requires a multiple choice and essay exam in addition to the ICF-required oral exam. I’m grateful for these extra layers as they helped bring the entire 18 months together, allowing Coaches to reflect and show what they’ve learned.
It is important to note that other training organizations train in different timeframes and with a different approach.
In this video, I cover what the ICF is and the requirements to obtain a Coach credential. I hope it is helpful!
VIDEO
***Did you know that the Coaching industry is not yet regulated? Therefore anyone can call themselves a “Coach”, which means they may not have the appropriate training. This can put an individual and organization at risk.***
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