What are the best short certification programs?

Is there a shortcut to a meaningful life?

Article by Jessica Phillips , Integral Coach and Enrollment Director for New Ventures West.

As the Director of Enrollment at New Ventures West, I enjoy hearing about the different metrics that potential students use to compare our coaching certification program to other coaching certification programs.

Invariably, the length of certification programs will come under scrutiny.?Some certification programs offer “certifications” after just one day, a weekend, or a couple of months.

Some coaching certification programs offer “fast track” programs for students who feel they need to complete it all in the shortest time possible. ?

A shorter runway can seem attractive to someone eager to begin working and making an income as a coach, but does that make you a better coach? If you're getting into coaching to help people, does a crash course truly make you the best choice to be of service to others?

Considering that all great coaches start with themselves, what does it say if the program you rush through does not even address your ability to govern from within?

The Professional Coaching Course, which confers an Integral Coach? certification, takes a full 12 months, during which the cohort meets in person over four sessions for a total of 17 in-class days.

It's academically rich, vetted, and accredited by the International Coaching Federation as a Level 2 Coach Training program, considered to be one of the most rigorous in the world.

A lot happens between sessions, including assignments, readings, learning calls, writing, and real-world, actual coaching of guest clients under the guidance of professional faculty, not to mention that aspects of the program are personally tailored just for you, something not many other programs of any length can claim.?

We believe coaching is a way of being, a powerful orientation in the world.

A year in the Professional Coaching Course is chock-full, and we can’t imagine it being any shorter. Yet, we sometimes get asked why we don’t offer an abbreviated “fast-track” option.

We don’t offer it because we know it won't support you in learning the Integral Coaching method.

Here’s why:?

Your clients and the people you serve will thank you

During your time in the Professional Coaching Course, you’ll conduct at least three coaching programs consisting of 10-12 sessions with clients. Our program is organized so you have seven and a half months between when you can begin meeting with clients and when your sessions must be completed. ?

This generous timeline allows for an experience that feels spacious for you and supportive for your clients as they are free to develop at their own rate. Each coaching client is unique and will have different developmental challenges.

A longer timeline allows you to respond authentically and personally to each client’s needs rather than being forced to cram more sessions into a shorter timeframe. You will be able to experience how a client’s development unfolds over time and see the way a coaching relationship can mature and blossom. ?

Ultimately, your clients will thank you for an experience supporting their needs.?

Extended support as you integrate the methodology

Some say coaching is an art, and some say it is a science. At New Ventures West, it is a little of both. Our faculty is not to leave you proficient in the science of our methodology but to support you as you deepen in your expression of the art.

This is when a coach is able to uniquely clarify their offering as distinct from the offerings of other, equally qualified coaches. In a crowded marketplace, the ability to make this distinction is becoming more crucial by the day.

During your time in our coaching certification course, you are supported with multiple opportunities for practice, feedback, and personalized coaching to help you further integrate and express the methodology.?

Some things can’t be taught—only developed

At New Ventures West, we firmly believe that coaching is more than a series of techniques, tools, and developmental tricks. ?

We believe coaching is a way of being, a powerful orientation in the world.

Our methodology is rigorous, and you will learn models and other tools for working meaningfully with clients. However, we are also intent on addressing those aspects of coaching that can’t be taught but instead must be developed in each individual student.

For example:

• What does it take to be the kind of coach who can hold a powerful, resilient emotional field as the client bravely explores grounds they have always avoided?
• What are our own ideas about what it means to be “helpful,”?and how do these ideas keep us from offering our clients the support that would really assist them in becoming more competent and skillful?
• How might our coaching become more meaningful if we focused on developing our own cognitive, emotional, somatic, relational, spiritual, and integrative competencies?

As you can imagine, these questions aren’t things a learning module can fully address.

They are invitations into a new way of orienting to the world and toward our clients. Stepping into new orientations takes not just learning but integral development—and integral development takes time.?

Give yourself the time

Long-term development, integration of science and art, and a genuinely supportive, spacious experience for both client and coach are just a few of the aspects that set Integral Coaching and New Ventures West apart from other coaching schools. We invest fully in you certification as we know the only way you can truly bring out the best in others is by being the best version of yourself.

If this approach appeals to you, we invite you to give yourself the time to explore what is possible. ??

Practical Wisdom

Below is practical wisdom and questions you can and should ask yourself helping you make better choices. The power of your answers comes from the power of your questions.

• If you are exploring coach training programs, what feels most important to you? Is it development, rigor, community, reputation, convenience, or something else? The conversations you have with different schools will give you clarity.
• Notice how it feels to speak to other coaching programs: What is the quality of the connection you feel with them? How might this inform your decision??
• Pay attention to what other programs offer: Do they invest in you? Do they give you real-world experience being a coach? What's their community like? Are they rigorous? How will they prepare you? Are they giving you real-world opportunities that will translate to a better career or being better at your current career?
• What are your reflections on the aspects of coaching that can be taught versus those developed within the coach??

Take steps daily to support others more authentically, and you'll improve the quality of your life, professionally and personally. That's a cornerstone of what New Ventures West and Integral Coaching is all about.

Intrigued? Join our faculty for a free event to experience Integral Coaching: a proven, transformational way of working with and relating to others.?

Know of someone who would benefit from this content??Like, comment, share, and subscribe.?It helps connect more people to Integral methodology, coaching, and creates meaningful relationships between people around the world.

New Ventures West is one of the world's oldest and most rigorous accredited coaching schools and the leader in Integral Coaching certification for global companies, their leadership and professional development, and individuals looking for a rigorous curriculum taught by seasoned faculty.?

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