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

by Diane S. Menendez Ph.D., Patrick Williams Ed.D.

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393707502
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	03/28/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

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.

Table of Contents

Acknowledments xi

Introduction: Life Coaching as an Operating System xv

Part I Coaching Fundamentals

Chapter 1 Listening as a Coach 3

Chapter 2 The Language of Coaching 19

Chapter 3 Coaching as a Developmental Change Process 73

Part II Beyond the Basics

Chapter 4 Empowering the Client 131

Chapter 5 Stretching the Client 151

Chapter 6 Creating Momentum With the Client 173

Chapter 7 Coaching the Whole Client: Mind, Body, Emotions, Spirit 183

Part III Coaching from the Inside Out

Chapter 8 The Power of Purpose 221

Chapter 9 Design Your Life 237

Chapter 10 What Gets in Your Way? 255

Chapter 11 Steering Your Life by True North 275

Chapter 12 Walk the Talk 291

Chapter 13 Play Full Out 307

Chapter 14 How Wealthy Are You? 325

Chapter 15 Mind-set is Causative 341

Chapter 16 Love Is All We Need 367

Appendix: The Evolution of a Profession 387

References 407

Index 415

Editorial Reviews

"For anyone considering coaching or considering hiring a coach this book is the best way to get the clearest, most complete understanding of the process. Step by step the reader is taken from theory to real-world examples and finally to practical exercises offering helpful strategies. I have already begun to apply these insights to my own clients. Becoming a Professional Life Coach is a resource I will return to again and again on a regular basis."

Rich Tafel

"As a career counselor in private practice, I am always on the lookout for new tools and techniques to use with my clients. [This book] did not disappoint me. The book contains practical reminders of the basics of coaching and new ideas for improving coaching practices. . . . The authors guide readers through the fundamentals of coaching and do a great job in pointing out how counseling and coaching are similar and how they are different. . . . Readers obtain a potpourri of advice for becoming life coaches, as well as a refresher course on a number of important psychological theories and practices. They should find this book a pragmatic reference to accompany them on their transition from counseling to coaching."

PsycCRITIQUES

"What a resource! This is the definitive book on life coaching, as useful to the master coach as it is to the novice. An essential book worth owning!"

Richard J. Leider

"[I]f you are curious about the life coaching profession, Williams and Menendez’s resource is a thorough one. The book provides a deeper understanding of the field along with the techniques and skills necessary to join it. . . . I found it useful as a way to learn more about the field of life coaching in general — and even to learn techniques I can use on myself."

PsychCentral

"This is the definitive book on how to become a whole-person life coach. Taking theory to practicality, it gives readers basic to advanced steps for using coaching as a paradigm for any changes or goals their clients may desire. Many helping professionals now say they are coaching . . . this book will teach them the key competencies for doing it."

Hale Dwoskin