Becoming a Professional Life Coach: Lessons from the Institute of Life Coach Training

Personal and professional coaching, which has emerged as a powerful career in the last several years, has shifted the paradigm of how people who seek help with life transitions find a "helper" to partner with them in designing their desired future.

No matter what kind of sub-specialty a coach might have, life coaching is the basic operating system: a whole-person, client-centered approach. Here, Pat Williams, who has been a leader in the life coaching movement, has co-authored another essential book for therapists working as coaches. Becoming a Professional Life Coach draws on the wisdom of years of collective experience that have gone into designing the curriculum for the Institute for Life Coach Training. This curriculum has trained therapists and psychologists around the world to add coaching to their current businesses. This book presents the essential elements of life coach training program in a content-rich form that is equivalent to a graduate-level education in the field.

Diane S. Menendez, PhD, is a master certified coach and has coached leaders, teams, and organizations for more than twenty-five years. She specializes in executive coaching, leadership development, and culture change in large organizations.

Patrick Williams, EdD, is founder of the Institute for Life Coach Training and the coauthor of the highly acclaimed Therapist as Life Coach: Transforming your Practice, Total Life Coaching, and The Law and Ethics of Coaching. He lives in Colorado.