Frequently Asked Questions

What is a life coach?

A life coach is an individual who supports and encourages people to fulfil their potential and really make the most of their life. A life coach can help to empower individuals to take control of their life, or certain areas of their life, for example, their career, confidence/self belief, finances, health, relationships, spirituality and/or work/life balance.

It can be easy to lose direction in our lives and life coaching aims to explore ways to enhance the skills, qualities and creativity we already have but may not be making the most of. Life coaching often involves exploring our attitudes, beliefs and values, discussing our aims in life and setting appropriate goals to help us to reach them. Unlike trying to achieve goals on our own, having a life coach should help to keep us committed, motivated and focussed. Just like sports men and women have their own coach, a life coach helps us to become the best we can be in our own lives.

What happens during a life coaching session?

Life coaching sessions will typically be for a specific duration, often between 45 minutes and 60 minutes (depending on the life coach you choose). Sessions are usually conducted over the phone, but face to face, email or Internet sessions may be available from some life coaches too.

During the session, you and your life coach will discuss certain aims and together you’ll set goals and work towards these. Although a life coach will work with you, it’s often up to you to challenge or reflect upon certain ideas to help you move forward with your life. You will not be forced to make any decisions you’re not comfortable with and the sessions are confidential, so you can explore your thoughts and feelings privately.

Life coaching is often seen as a partnership between you and your life coach, in which your life coach will encourage you to explore how to make positive changes in your life. A life coach should offer support and feedback, and help you to stay focussed on your goals.

What qualifications and experience should life coaches have?

Life coaching is not currently regulated in the UK. However, when choosing a life coach it can be reassuring to know that they work to certain standards of good practice. Life coaches can register with a professional body with its own code of ethics, and those who have accreditation/membership with a professional body work to strict guidelines and ethics.

Professional bodies in the UK:

UK International Coach Federation (ICF)

Life coaches can become accredited by the ICF, who have three grades of membership:

• Associate Certified Coach (ACC) – requires 100 hours’ coaching experience and 60 hours’ training, with a minimum of 10 hours with a mentor coach.
• Professional Certified Coach (PCC) – requires 750 hours’ experience and 125 hours' training, with a minimum of 10 hours with a mentor coach.
• Master Certified Coach (MCC) – requires 2,500 hours’ experience and 200 hours’ training, with a minimum of 10 hours with a mentor coach.

Association for Coaching

Life coaches can become an Associate Member, Member or Accredited Member of the Association for Coaching:

• Associate Member (AMAC) has either:
1. Experience only (no coaching qualifications) - requires a minimum of 75 hours of coaching delivery.
2. Experience combined with training - requires a minimum of 40 hours of coaching delivery plus 35 hours of training
• Member (MAC) has either:
1. Experience only (no coaching qualifications) - requires a minimum of 250 hours of coaching delivery.
2. Experience combined with training - requires a minimum of 215 hours of coaching delivery plus 35 hours of training.
3. Training combined with experience - requires a minimum of 100 hours of training plus 150 hours of coaching delivery.
• Accredited Member (AC Accredited or AC Accred) has:
• A minimum of 250 hours of coaching practise
• Evidence of Continued Professional Development
• Submitted a case study and account of coaching philosophy
• Evidence of coaching supervision

European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC)

EMCC exists to promote good practice and the expectation of good practice in mentoring and coaching across Europe.

The EMCC is a unifying and inclusive body covering a broad spectrum of organisations from the voluntary and community, professional training and development, counselling at work, life coaching and academic psychology sectors.

Association for Professional Executive Coaching and Supervision (APECS)

APECS is the professional body for executive coaching and for the supervision of executive coaches:

• Accredited Executive Coaches

Accredited Executive Coaches have extensive one–to–one executive coaching experience of at least five years.

• Associate Members

Associate Members (working towards accreditation) have extensive one–to–one executive coaching experience of at least two years.

To find out more about professional bodies click here. Accredited Coach Training Programmes (ACTP)

The International Coach Federation (ICF) have a list of Accredited Coach Training Programmes (ACTP) so if a life coach has a qualification from one of these training programmes you can be assured they are working within ICF guidelines, and often towards accreditation/membership with a professional body.

Other courses and qualifications

As well as Accredited Coach Training Programmes (ACTP), there are a wide range of other training courses and qualifications available from many organisations, colleges and Universities across the UK. As with any qualifications, different courses will offer different levels of expertise. Please ask your life coach to clarify what their course(s) included if you'd like to know specifics.

How do I know which life coach to choose?

Lifecoach Directory lists many life coaches from all over the UK and it may seem hard to choose which one will be most appropriate for you. Here’s a quick guide that should help you to narrow down the lists:

1. Delivery Method

The first thing to decide is how you’d like your life coaching sessions to be delivered. The options are:

Face to face (group)
Face to face (individual)
Email
Telephone
Online (video conferencing)


The majority of life coaches work over the telephone but if you decide you’d like face to face sessions, location will become the next important consideration.

2. Location

If you choose face to face sessions it will be important to select a life coach near to where you live to ensure your commitment to the sessions remain high. You can use the search on the homepage to find a life coach in your town or region.

3. Accreditation/Membership

Decide if you’d like your life coach to have accreditation/membership with a professional body. If you are wary about choosing a life coach, selecting one registered with a professional body means they work to certain standards of good practise and ethics. Life coaches will make it clear on their profile if they have accreditation/membership with a professional body.

4. Fees

Fees will often be an important consideration. Make sure you have a look at a number of coaches and compare their fees to get an idea of an average price. Fees often depend on the experience of the life coach and the delivery method (e.g. face to face sessions will probably be more expensive than telephone sessions).

5. Full Profiles

Each life coach has an entire web page to display their profile so you can get a feel for their background and personality - the more comfortable you feel with your life coach, the more successful the sessions are likely to be. You may also want to think about whether you'd be more comfortable with a male or female, and consider how important it may be for them to speak a different language.

6. Final Decision

Read up on lots of different life coaches before making your final decision and even contact a few before settling on the most appropriate one for you. It may be good to write down some questions before contacting them so you know exactly what you’d like to ask and you’ll be able to get some feedback from specific questions. The most important thing is that you feel comfortable talking to your chosen life coach. Remember, life coaching is an important step forward to living the life you desire, so if you’ve got this far don’t stop now!