The European Mentoring and Coaching Council, EMCC Global, offers two helpful definitions of coaching:“Coaching is facilitating the client’s learning process by using professional methods and techniques to help the client to improve what is obstructive and nurture what is effective, in order to reach the client’s goals.”“Coaching is partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximise their personal and professional potential.”

This is a hotly debated topic and, depending on your theoretical orientation and training as a counsellor or therapist, there are many similarities to be found between coaching and counselling.However, there are some differences related to fees, focus, intention and (depending on the type of coaching you would like to do) client group and context. Our training will enable you to explore where you are currently on the continuum of therapist to coach and to think about the potential niche market that is right for you.We believe that if you are a counsellor or psychotherapist and meet the entry requirements, then you already have many of the skills of a coach. What we provide is the additional tools, information, expertise and – essentially – the qualification that gives you the knowledge, confidence and credibility to coach a range of clients in both a private and corporate setting.

A large part of the course is skills practice where you will be working one-to-one with your own coachees who will provide you not only with experience and learning, but also feedback, both general and specific. Practising your skills is going to be essential, so we encourage participants to begin looking for potential clients as soon as they register for the course, in order to begin coaching with them after the first workshop of the training.You need to complete 60 hours of practice hours outside of the programme delivery days. As an example, coaching sessions are usually a minimum of 1.5 hours (90 minutes) long, so you might work with six coachees during the programme, undertaking a minimum of six  – eight coaching sessions with each coachee.‘Matching’ and contracting conversations are included in the hours and coaching sessions may last longer or take less time, and they may want more or less than six sessions – it is for you to agree with each coachee.The learning from these sessions is shared and discussed in subsequent workshops, and the feedback sheets form part of your portfolio of evidence for your award. In total, you will need to complete 60 coaching practice hours outside of the taught elements of the course.We cannot find the coachees for you, but we can recommend ways you might be able to seek them out. For example, you might try putting an offer for free or reduced cost coaching out on LinkedIn or through LinkedIn groups or speak to local voluntary and community groups to see if their staff or trustees would like coaching at minimal cost. People running their own business, school governors and members of the Parent Teacher Association or people on the parish council may all be interested once you tell them about it. Inviting people to have coaching is all part of having a coaching practice – don’t be afraid to ask!