Home Study-Train to be a life coachWe are excited to announce that the ACS course Life Coaching is now recognised by the Association for Coaching (UK), and that ACS Distance Education is the FIRST DISTANCE LEARNING ORGANISATION to be awarded course recognition status.www.associationforcoaching.com
If you are interested in helping people, this is the course for you. Lose weight, change careers, be promoted, come to terms with illness or disability, overcome debts - these are just some of the problems that a life coach can support their client with.
Life coaches can work with their own clients, in their own professional practice. You offer support to your clients to improve their lives. Life coaching has made a difference to many people. It is a fulfilling and rewarding career.
"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 - Life Coaching.
What is a life coach?
"At some point in their lives, everybody seeks advice from friends, family or professionals to help them make decisions or decide how to handle a particular situation or event. The life coach makes available the kind of consistent assistance and support that may be lacking in a person’s life or difficult to obtain when consulting family or friends who may have quite different perspectives.
A life coach can become a confidante, helping the client determine what is important, identify their strengths and weaknesses, and ascertain where they want to be in six months, a year, ten years. Life coaching involves assisting the client set personal and professional goals and establishing a workable strategy to attain them within a given time frame. For clients, a life coach can provide a life-changing experience, an invaluable opportunity to take control over their lives and fulfil their dreams.
NATURE OF LIFE COACHING
Like the coach of elite athletes, the life coach is results oriented, and his or her main tasks are to help clients recognise, overcome or remove barriers to personal growth and development, and develop strategies for achieving goals that will enable the individual to develop his or her full potential. Again like the sports coach, the life coach will be required to accurately assess the client’s aptitudes, strengths, weaknesses, needs and goals in order to arrive at a program that is specifically tailored to that individual. Unlike a sports coach, however, life coaches may also have to manage clients’ reluctance, lack of motivation, inaccurate perceptions and other psychological barriers to effective self-management. Life coaching is primarily about helping clients develop the skills and attitudes that will enable them to manage themselves and their own lives.
People may contact a life coach for very different reasons: to help them make better financial or career decisions; to get them motivated; to help them overcome feelings of frustration, helplessness, or lack of confidence; to help them manage personal relationships; to help them develop practical life skills. However, the reasons for contacting a life coach may not be the primary issues that are causing the client distress or dissatisfaction, and much of the life coach’s work will be to lead the client on a journey of self-discovery." (notes taken from our Life Coaching course)
We also have a Certificate in Life Coaching, which will cover the area of life coaching is greater detail.
Visit - http://www.acsedu.co.uk/Courses/Health-Fitness-and-Recreation/CERTIFICATE-IN-LIFE-COACHING-564.aspx
If you would like a bit more information on careers in the helping professions, why not visit - http://www.thecareersguide.com/articles.aspx?category=14
Duration: 100 Hours (you study at your own pace)
COURSE STRUCTURE
The course is divided into ten 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 sucessful 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,
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 focusing.
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 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 the
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 wellbeing.
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.
What qualification will I achieve for completing this course?
This is an individual module course. The individual module courses are 100 hour long usually and can be taken on their own or as part of a larger program of study.
If you wish to take an individual module course as a stand alone course, you can elect to sit an optional exam at the end of it.
If you successfully pass the exam and all assignments, you will receive a Statement of Attainment. You can take examinations at a time and location to suit you. If you enrol, you will be sent further information on how to arrange examinations at the end of the course.
If you do not wish to take the exam, you will receive a Course Completion letter when you have passed all assignments.
There is an assignment at the end of each lesson. So for example, if an individual module course contains ten lessons, you will need to complete ten assignments. Assignments can be sent to us via email, post or fax.
Other qualifications, such as certificates, diplomas etc may require examinations to be taken as part of the overall assessment process.
You can find further information on the examinations process by clicking on the “Enrolment” link above.
You can find further information on other courses by clicking on the “Courses” link above.
More Information on ACS Distance Education and our courses
Who are our tutors?
Our tutors are all highly experienced and professional, knowledgeable in their field of study. We have staff from around the world, enabling us to gain a wide variety of perspectives. We have a school in the UK and in Australia. If you would like to have a look at our tutors, then click on the “The School” in the boxes above and choose “The Staff” option.
Sample Course Notes
Our courses are all written by highly qualified tutors and writers, who also teach on the courses, so know them well. We strive to update our courses and improve them with new information, methods and knowledge on an ongoing basis. If you would like to see examples of some of our courses, then choose the “Enrolment” option above, and then click on “Sample Course Notes”.
What learning method should I choose?
We offer three learning methods – e-learning, correspondence and online. If you are not sure which is the right choose for you, then click on the “Enrolment” box above, then “Learning Methods.”
How Long will it take to complete the course?
This obviously varies from student to student. Some students will have more time for study than others. Some students may work quicker than others, so it is an individual thing. We estimate that most students will take, for example, 4 – 6 months to complete a 100 hour individual module, but we allow up to 12 months for you to complete it.
Longer courses will obviously take longer. You can find more information on the length of time required and so on the “Enrolment” box, then selecting “Terms and Conditions of Enrolment.”
What Do Our Students think of us?
If you would like to read comments from our previous students, then choose the “Enrolment” option above, then “Student Testimonials”.
I don’t think this is the right course for me.
If you’re not sure about this course, then why not look at our wide range of other courses. Click on the “Courses” box above.
You may also wish to design your own course to fit in with exactly what YOU want. To do so, click on the “Enrolment” box, then “Design your Own Course”.
If you would like more advice on a course, then you can contact us and ask a tutor about the courses. You can contact us by calling 0800 328 4723 or +44(0) 384 442752 or emailing info@acsedu.co.uk
Recognition and Accreditation
For more information on our recognition and accreditation, click on “The School”, then “Recognition”.
Who is ACS Distance Education?
If you want to know more about ACS and our history, then please click on “The School”, then “About us.”
Distance Learning Life Coaching Training
"Start a new career as a Life Coach!"
This course is now recognised by the Association for Coaching ( UK )! ACS is now the only Distance Education Organisation to have a course recognised by the AC. For more information on the Association for Coaching, visit www.associationforcoaching.com
