Should I Become a Life Coach?

Hello,
 
I won't belabor this email as to how I came upon your site, but instead ask if you would point me in the best direction to filter out whether the profession of life coach is for me.
 
Last year I lost my husband over in Iraq and currently I'm seeking a new path in which to restart my life. It's to my detriment that in my many years of marriage, 20+ (I'm 42 now), I did not work, nor did I have to. We had no children but ourselves and enjoyed a good life. Nonetheless life changes and in order to move on you must adapt and so this is where you find me.
 
A little of my background might lend a hand. My B.A. is in Psychology and at one time I had thought about becoming a psychologist but frankly my interest is not as Freudian as most therapies and I prefer a more rounded approach working with people on several facets rather than strictly dysfunction. I also hold a B.A. in Business but that, too, I have never utilized. More to the point, I have no interest to move into the business sector unless it has to do with counseling.
 
So, as you can see, my interest is clearly working with people in a therapeutic sort of capacity. To compound this interest I won't deny that providing a good income is key, as well. However, there seems to be such a mirage of information pertaining to this career path and its rewards that I'm not certain what is fluff, if not puff.
 
It's my hope that you can share a minute with me and tell me the best way to go about getting into this profession in the most reputable fashion. Where do I gain formal training and what should I expect from it? I'm also curious whether, if you had to start all over, if you would even do it again or recommend this path and to whom?
 
Kind Regards,

Joanna

Joanna,

Thanks for your email. I’m sorry for your loss.

There are many ways to get into coaching. There are many coaches who have no degrees or certifications. However, I did not have any experience in psychology or coaching when I started so I wanted to get some training.

In terms of formal training, you could check out some programs offered by the International Coaching Federation, which is one of the governing organizations in the coaching field. What you personally get is some basics on coaching and a degree.

I find that business clients and professionals often ask about how I’m qualified to coach and the degree does matter to about 25-30 percent of the folks I coach. Given your background in psychology, I think you are likely to have most of the basic skills you already need to listen, ask questions, and facilitate learning with your client. It may be worth it to get a book on coaching basics and see what learning gaps (if any) you may have. I’d recommend Co-Active Coaching as a starting place. This will give you a general sense of what you may get from formal training.

If I were to do it all over again, I would have read the book above, taken some basic classes to fill my knowledge gaps, signed up with a program to practice coaching other coaches, and then took a class on effective networking for the marketing piece. What the coaching program I took missed was helping people through behavioral change. I took an NLP and hypnosis class that I thought helped the most in terms of working effectively with clients to create real change. I think there are some NLP and coaching programs combined. If I were to do it again, I would have signed up for one of those classes. Make sure these programs offer adequate practice too.

Sincerely
 
C.J.