Coach Certification

Coaching for Transformation includes 140 hours of training that leads to certification as a professional coach. An International Coach Federation accredited school, we are pioneers in the coaching field with a concentration in holistic coaching. You can choose from two options - classroom or distance learning.

Classroom: This 9-month program includes 65% in person training and 35% via teleclass:

• 12 days classroom training sessions
• 34 1.5-hour teleclasses
• 16 hours of peer coaching
• 10 hours of mentor coaching
• Final evaluation including coaching competencies demonstration

Distance Learning: This 11-month program includes:

• 12 hours Coaching for Transformation Essentials (either in person or by teleclass)
• 84 1.5-hour teleclasses
• 16 hours of peer coaching
• 10 hours of mentor coaching
• Final evaluation including coaching competencies demonstration

Whether you’re a coach, teacher, consultant, social worker, nurse, manager, or any other leader, you can use this program to help people create a better future. Therapists, in particular, increasingly find coaching tools a valuable complement to their practice. If you have a commitment to social responsibility in business, government, or your personal life, then the skills and experience provided by this training will deepen your effectiveness.

We offer you rigorous coach training within a supportive community.

Curriculum and registration

Listen to program co-founder Richard Michaels speak about the impact of Coaching for Transformation

Want to talk about whether this program is the right one for you?

Want to know more about the advantages of Coaching for Transformation?

Community of peers for support and learning: In the Coaching for Transformation program, you go through the entire program as a learning community. You’ll be with the same group for the duration, which means you’ll create trusting relationships as you support each other’s growth as coaches. Each participant has a series of peer coaching partners to support learning and development. You’ll create relationships that continue to support you long after you’ve graduated. Many of our grads go on to create partnerships or business ventures with each other.

Cultural awareness and commitment: We’re committed to changing the demographics of the coaching profession by making coaching available to under-resourced communities and actively seeking faculty with deep roots in multicultural competencies and participants that represent many different communities and backgrounds. We look for creative ways to bring coaching to people who traditionally don’t have access to coaching – the social sector, communities of color, LGBT, and more.

Mentoring with rigorous feedback on coaching skills: You’ll experience the camaraderie of group mentor coaching and the depth of one-on-one mentor coaching. Your mentor coaches use an appreciative approach to feedback, identifying your strengths as a coach. You’ll get solid observable feedback – instead of adjectives, judgments or labels. The feedback is designed to build on your assets and give you specific suggestions to take your coaching to the next level. In addition, you’ll hone your ability to give feedback to others so that your peer coaching sessions put you on a trajectory toward empowering, effective coaching.

A faculty that values continuous learning: We’re in this together! At Coaching for Transformation, the coaches and faculty are all seriously committed to life-long learning. You’ll have the opportunity to coach your teachers and your mentor coaches on real live issues. We recognize that it takes real courage to be vulnerable, and we continuously open ourselves to the opportunity to be coached and hone our coaching skills. Always hungry for feedback, we welcome your suggestions to improve our programs.

The Coach’s Stand: We take a stand for deep, transformative coaching. You will learn how to replace rote, predictable coaching with boldness. You’ll develop your own personalized coach’s stand - a powerful way of being that mobilizes personal transformation. The coach’s stand is a set of physical, mental and spiritual practices and commitments that a coach embodies in order to make each coaching moment, session and relationship more powerful and effective. Together they create the orientation you need to effectively call out your client’s power. By taking risks, you hold a vision for your client that is larger than what they can see themselves, which calls them into a deeper space or a bigger game.

Focus on transformation for the client and the coach: With transformation as our focus, we often hear from our participants say, “I expected the program would be transformational for my clients, but I didn’t know it would be so deeply transformational for me.” Your life will change and there’s no going back to an ordinary life.

Deep awareness of emotions and needs: Traditionally, coaching models focus on helping clients achieve their goals, which usually results in temporary change. The way we help clients create sustainable change is through deep awareness. You’ll help clients break through limiting beliefs, become aware of the wisdom of their bodies, identify their emotions and understand their needs and values. From that grounded, centered place of deep awareness, they can develop strategies and take actions that honor their values. Ironically, the coach’s deep empathic presence does more to facilitate transformation than anything else. CFT coaches develop a solid connection with clients, creating awareness before moving into action.

Holistic – body, mind, soul, and spirit: The holistic approach combines awareness of body, mind, soul and spirit with solid coaching skills. You will exercise the right and left brain, the heart and the mind, mystery and logic. Coaching for Transformation stands on the shoulders of the study of human development, psychological thought, as well as soul work from indigenous cultures and the philosophies of the East. You are on the cutting edge of the expanding profession of coaching, marrying the heart and mystery of transformation with the practical world of tools, skills and results. You will awaken your gifts and sharpen the tools for accessing inner wisdom in service of individual and global transformation.

Business building support: At Coaching for Transformation, we offer a business development program that helps you get clients immediately. You’ll gain confidence through peer coaching, and move on to our unique pro bono coaching program with nonprofit leaders. You’ll learn how to do niche marketing in your specialty area, and get your practice up and running quickly. You’ll also learn how to develop your blog and get traffic that you can turn into clients. When you graduate, you can join our Coaches Directory, where you can customize your free profile and pick up clients from people browsing our website daily.

Curriculum and registration

Want to talk about whether this program is the right one for you? Send us an email or give us a call at 570-297-3333.