How to Obtain Life Coach Certification

Life coaching has been in the mainstream media for quite some time now; these days everybody and his brother, from mega celebrity to the average Joe, want to get coached or at least find out what it's all about.

And there seems to be no shortage of new coaches being churned out every year by life coaching schools across the globe.

If becoming a life coach is something you've been considering, you may also want to know how to obtain certification. But before we get to that, there's something that needs considering.

Do you need to be a certified life coach?

This may surprise you, but you don't need certification to be a life coach. The same is true even if you want to become an executive coach, business coach or any other type of coach.

There's just no global governing institution regulating professional coaching education. There are literally hundreds of institutes, schools, universities and colleges offering some sort of life coach certification course.

This being the case, it makes it pretty hard to separate the wheat from the chaff. And since you're going to be spending time and money on getting "certified" status, it's probably better if you learn a few ground rules when choosing your education.

How to choose the best life coach certification for you

With so many options out there, it takes a discerning eye to weed out disreputable coaching schools.

If you're just interested in getting a primer on life coaching, most schools will offer you the opportunity of attending a free class to learn what it's all about.

It also could give you insider access to that school's curriculum, you should find out how classes are given and how many hours of coaching you receive and have to give before receiving certification, and whether or not you'll get support from the faculty and other students or just be left by the wayside having to figure things out for yourself.

These are all important factors that you need to consider before wedding yourself to one school. What you're looking for is to get a bird's eye view of what type and the amount of training you can expect to complete in order to be credentialed.

Who gives certification?

If you discover that being a life coach is for you, you should aim to enroll in a school that offers a course that is accredited by an independent regulating organization, such as the International Coach Federation (ICF).

Typically, these schools will voluntarily agree to uphold common ICF quality standards and hold the coaches they graduate accountable to knowing core coaching competencies and a minimum of coaching time spent before gaining a credential.

How much will a certification cost?

This depends on the coaching school you choose. Coaching programs can start at around $1,500 and upwards of $5,000. This usually doesn't include additional costs for ICF registration fees or other administrative costs that the school charges.

Getting certified can cost you a pretty penny, and you should do your research before you shell out thousands of dollars to make sure you get a good coaching education. Remember, you're paying for the quality of the program you're getting and not for the certification itself (this is just a piece of paper if you think about it.)

How long will it take you to get certified?

This depends on how much time you have to attend classes. Most schools have telephone conferences instead of physical classrooms and most of the interaction is online, either through email or through forums where you can meet other students and faculty; this means that you can go at your own pace. Most schools program full courses to take between 6 months and 1 year.

Is it worth it?

This is a question you have to think about seriously. On the one hand, you don't really need to be a certified life coach to start coaching someone, which means that if you can't afford to spend a lot of time and money in training you don't have to. You should have at least the skills and experience to help your clients achieve their goals (if your clients have a bad experience with you, having a certification won't make much difference.)

On the other, life coaching is fast adopting core principles and minimum requirements to improve its quality and the quality of the coaching experience.

When you're thinking about how to obtain a life coach certification, a little research goes a long way when you want to get all the bang for your buck.