Life Coaching Training course available by distance learning.
Study life coaching as the first step to a new career or business.
- Start this course as your first step towards your new career as a life coach.
- Learn more about coaching processes, effective coaching, coaching skills, psychological well being.
- Start at any time - learn while you are earning and study in the comfort of your own home.
- ACS Distance Education is an organisational member of the Association For Coaching. Students on the course are eligible to join the association as student members.
COURSE STRUCTURE AND CONTENT
The course comprises 10 lessons, as follows:-
Lesson 1. Introduction: Nature & scope of Life Coaching
Nature of life coaching, cognitive behaviour therapy, different approaches, the scope of life coaching.
Lesson 2. Individual Perception
Psychology of self-perception, perceptual barriers, motivating clients to challenge their perceptions.
Lesson 3. A Well Balanced Life
The inter-relationship between psychology and physiology, stress, the psychology of balance.
Lesson 4. Coaching Processes
Key coaching processes, assessment of the client's situation, dealing with emotions, setting goals, replacing negative habits with positive ones, leadership qualities in a life coach, imagination and enthusiasm, clarifying goals, recognition of limitations.
Lesson 5. Coaching Skills
Understanding the communication process, body language, communication barriers, listening skills, assessing learning styles.
Lesson 6. Coaching and Physical Well-Being
Human nutrition, important factors in nutrition, physical well-being.
Lesson 7. Coaching and Psychological Well-Being
The psychology of self-esteem, stress management programme, identifying stressors.
Lesson 8. Coaching Success
High achievement, coaching success, career guidance, managing your money, beginning a business.
Lesson 9. Goal Setting
Values, aims and goals, types of goals, planning, future goals, steps for successful goal achievement, effort and attribution.
Lesson 10. Review and Adjustment
Indications that a programme needs to be reassessed, client's lack of confidence, personality clash, over-achievers, health and safety issues.
COURSE AIMS
- Define life coaching and differentiate it from other professions such as psychotherapist, counsellor, personal trainer and so on.
- Understand that people perceive the world in different ways, and identify ways to help clients change counter-productive perceptions without excessive discomfort.
- Define a well-rounded individual and well-rounded life.
- Define different coaching skills including listening, analysing, planning and focussing.
- Identify ways in which life coaching can contribute to physical well-being.
- Identify ways in which life coaching can contribute to psychological well-being.
- Identify the areas in which successful life coaching can benefit a client.
- Understand the importance enabling clients to develop aims, plans and goals.
- Recognise the importance of reviewing and adjusting the life-coaching processes.
WHAT YOU WILL DO IN THIS COURSE
- Interview a life-coach (or someone who offers life-coaching service as part of their professional counselling repertoire) for information on the nature of life-coaching.
- Identify principles that differentiate life coaching from other helping professions.
- Consider the pros and cons of different approaches to life coaching.
- Do case studies to reflect on and/or observe the effects of different life-coaching approaches on improving a person’s quality of life.
- Design and administer a questionnaire to research some effects of negative aspects of self-perception.
- Discuss the importance of balancing a client’s limitations and encouraging them to step outside their comfort zones.
- Identify means of monitoring an individual’s self-perceptions.
- Examine the relationship and interaction between a person's mental/psychological and physical health and well-being.
- Consider how to deal with clients with special needs such as disabilities.
- Identify the processes involved in life coaching and describe what each can contribute to a client's personal growth and development.
- Discuss ways individuals might resist life changes and ways to facilitate change.
- Discuss the pros and cons of assertiveness training.
- Identify reasons that individuals are unable to make decisions.
- Identify different life coaching skills and when they are required.
- Explain the importance of listening to the client and how to do it.
- Consider factors that might make a life coach’s personal skill repertoire ineffectual.
- Discuss the role and risks of physical life coaching in the life-coaching process.
- Research factors that must be considered when setting out a life coaching plan to promote physical health, and psychological health.
- Identify crucial information to be included in the development of a client’s plan.
- Discuss ways to nurture a client's goal setting, planning and self-monitoring skills.
- Research how much life-coaches use/do not use individualised client plans.
- How can the life-coach monitor the effectiveness of his/her program for a client?
- Create and evaluate an action plan for a real person/client, including monitoring.
HOW ARE LIFE COACHING CAREERS BUILT?
While developing skills may be the first step in the journey to a career in life coaching, learning alone doesn't guarantee employment and career success.
Most life coaching opportunities involve self employment. In other cases a life coach may work in a multi-disciplinary team at a health centre, which may involve the life coach working for themselves or for someone else.
Other ways may involve work for someone else is under the guise of another job. The first thing to understand is that there are many jobs in society which might not be called "life coach", but may utilise life coaching skills, or involve providing a similar type of service that a life coach provides. Related jobs can sometimes evolve and turn into something which might for all intents and purposes, be life coaching. For example:
Consider a teacher who demonstrates a certain type of empathy with students, may be asked to take on a role of student counsellor or career advisor.- Consider a counsellor who is confronted by clients who have fitness issues, eating problems, financial difficulties, and other challenges. Over time, a counsellor may broaden their knowledge and expertise; and find themselves, out of necessity, helping people across a broad gambit of issues, beyond just psychological.
- An employment consultant may find themselves utilising life coaching skills when working with their clients helping them find employment.
- A youth worker, mental health worker or disabilities worker may find themselves working with clients to develop life skills, goal setting, healthy living, interpersonal skills and more.
- A hairdresser or massage therapist may find themselves having conversations with their clients about their client’s lives and the issues they are having. The conversations may have some similarities to a life coaching course, with the hairdresser or massage therapist engaging in active listening and possibly helping the client structure their thoughts, gain a new perspective, set goals, etc.
Working for Yourself
To become a life coach you will first need to develop the necessary skill set. Most people will start by studying a Life Coaching short course, certificate or diploma to learn perspectives and techniques to help them work with clients. Your own personal life experiences and skills will shape your life coaching practice, and in the beginning it is wise to specialise in areas that you already have expertise, qualifications or experience in.
Capitalising on your existing skills and networks can be a powerful way to start your life coaching business. One way to build a life coaching practice is to start by offering coaching services in the area that you have had experience in, targeting existing clients and utilising your existing reputation in that area. You may initially provide a narrower range of services related to your speciality and then broaden the services over time, evolving your business to offer a comprehensive life coaching service.
You will most likely find it easier to start your business building on the strengths that you already have. If you have a degree, certificate or work experience in something; consider how you might use that existing knowledge and experience as leverage to get started toward a career in life coaching. There are many professions that will develop relevant skills for life coaching.
Here are some examples of how this might evolve:
- If you are already a personal trainer, after studying life coaching you might slowly incorporate life coaching into your training where appropriate. As you develop as a life coach you may bring life coaching aspects into your training more and more, until you become a specialist coach that offers your clients a life coaching service that includes fitness training where necessary. If you are interested in health aspects, it is likely you will also study nutrition, or psychology so you can offer a holistic service.
- If you have experience in business, maybe running your own business or working in commerce you may find that you want to change your career to help people more. Your journey into life coaching may start with studying life coaching to gain some understanding of this perspective. You may recognise the value of your business knowledge and decide to begin by offering business coaching services to some of the businesses you already work with, or your family and friends. As the needs arise you may offer coaching around your client’s personal issues, which over time may evolve into a more holistic life coaching approach.
- If you have worked in a bank you may have realised that many people don’t have a clue about finances. You may be really motivated to help people and you can see that this is an area that you know a lot about, that other people may not. By studying life coaching you can gain an understanding of people, and ways to work with them. You may start out by helping people manage their finances, but then realise that there can be other things involved that affect people’s spending, like their self-esteem, work satisfaction, etc. so evolve into offering your clients a complete life coaching service.
On the other hand, you might be starting your life coaching career as a fresh start, and may not be bringing any professional skills to the table. This does not mean that you will not succeed as a life coach, and whether you recognise it or not, you will still be bringing years of experience and insight from your own life experiences. If you are starting from scratch without an existing network or client base you may need a more strategic approach, with a more aggressive marketing campaign to get your business up and running.
ACS Student Testimonials: Life Coaching
Read what some of our students think of our Life Coaching course:
"I have done several counselling courses in the past and the coaching course fitted in well with the learning experiences I had encountered previously. The reading material was detailed and interesting and the feedback was detailed and constructive."
Sarah, UK - Life Coaching course.
"[The course] provides a thorough introduction to the practices of Life Coaching. It provides very good learning materials and practical assignments at end of each lesson. The comments from my tutor are always very encouraging and positive. The services from school administrative staff are excellent."
Wai Ming Au, Singapore - Life Coaching course.
"Yes [the course was a valuable learning experience]. It provided useful tools and information and assignments/set tasks provided greater insight into topics. [The course] was better than expected. The tutor was fantastic, gave great feedback and was also very motivating. It has given me the confidence to begin offering Life Coaching services."
Rebecca Cox, UK, Life Coaching course.
WHY STUDY WITH ACS?
- You can start the course at any time and study at your own pace.
- Study where you want to - online and eLearning study options offer the flexibility for you to determine where and when you study.
- Fit your studies around your own busy lifestyle.
- You are not alone in your studies - our highly qualified and friendly tutors are there to help you every step of the way. If you have any questions at all, they are always happy to help. - we provide full tutor support for all the time you are studying.
WHY SHOULD YOU STUDY THIS COURSE?
- Learn to help others find a better life.
- Prepare you for a new career as a life coach.
- Fill in the gaps in your life knowledge and experience. What are your weak points (health, fitness, finance, management, communication, knowledge)?
- Improve your knowledge through reading and studying.
- Establish a business.
- Become a better life coach with training to add to your experience.
Start a new and rewarding career in Life Coaching and help people to find new and better ways to live their lives.
YOU CAN ENROL TODAY
You can enrol on our Life Coaching course today!
If you have any questions or if you are not sure which course to choose to suit your career goals and aspirations then get in touch with us today.
Submit your questions to our specialist Psychology And Counselling tutors - they will be happy to help you. Or, you can phone us on -
(UK) 01384 442752, or
(International) +44 (0) 1384 442752.