登录查看更多内容

What Is ICF ACC Certification?

Matrrix - ICF ACTP Coach Training School

Inspire - Empower - Transform

发布日期: 2023年3月20日

If you are looking for in-depth information about the ICF credentialing paths, you are in the right place. For those who aren’t aware or need more clarification, ICF, or International Coaching Federation, is the global regulating body for coaching professionals.

Acquiring an ICF credential is not just prestigious but also a mark of high qualification and expertise for an aspiring or certified coach. The ICF credentialing process is broken down into three pathways – ACC, PCC, and MCC.

This particular article will walk you through the ICF ACC certification, its eligibility requirements, and how you can acquire the same.

More about the ICF ACC Certification

ACC, or Associate Certified Coach, is the first tier in the ICF credentialing process. This is the pathway most aspiring and recently certified coaches opt for right after completing their initial coach training programs.

Some of the basic eligibility requirements include the following:

60 hours of training through an ICF-accredited program (for ACSTH) and 125 hours of training for ACTP candidates
10 hours of mentor coaching
100 hours of logged coaching practice

The eligible candidates should work around the basic ICF Code of Ethics and leverage them into their professional coaching practice. Applicants for ACC can acquire their ICF credentials following two pathways - Accredited Coach Training Program (ACTP) or an Approved Coach Specific Training Hours Program (ACSTH). It is completely up to the candidate on which route they wish to choose for their initial coach training.

Gaining at least 100 hours of logged coaching experience (70 hours paid) is quintessential for every ACC aspirant to write and pass the Coach Knowledge Assessment (CKA) to better demonstrate whether their competencies are aligned with that of ICF’s.

Also, the logged coaching experience should include a minimum of eight individual clients, and at least 25 hours of this logged coaching experience should be within the last 24 months before the candidate is applying for the ICF credential.

What are the Skills of an ACC Coach?

ACCs can fit into several molds and help clients from different walks of life. Their skillset is diverse and on par with ICF’s core competencies. Following are some of the skills that ACCs possess:

Help their coaching clients find and focus on their goals, identify their roadblocks, and create a roadmap to achieve their goals.
ACC-level coaches opt for problem-solving during their sessions by introducing sound listening and strategic questioning skills.
Well-trained with ICF’s eight core competencies and exhibit the same during the individual coaching sessions.
Integrate the power of asking open-ended questions to unfurl the client’s goals and provide the client enough room for thinking and exploring their true potential.
Partner with the client to help with self-discovery.

How can One Apply for ICF ACC Credential?

With the basic information out of the way, let me move on to an integral part of this article. How does one become an ACC -ICF?

The process isn’t as complicated as you think. However, since there are a lot of individual logistics and elements involved, things can seem a little challenging to understand at first. As an ICF MCC with 15+ years of experience, I have personal experience to help you navigate the ACC credentialing process.

Before you apply for ACC, I’d recommend that you read through the eligibility criteria in detail. You can apply via one of the two routes - ACTP or ACSTH training program.

The first step towards becoming an ICF ACC is to complete your initial coach training program.
The second step is to acquire mentor coaching to develop your skills and learn about the varying coaching competencies.
The third and potentially most important step is to acquire your coaching hours via a mixture of paying and non-paying clients (Pro-bono). You need at least 8 coaching clients to qualify for the ICF ACC credential.

Once you finish your required coaching hours, the next step is to visit ICF’s official website, log into the portal and fill out the application form for the ACC credentialing process. The estimated timeline for the application review by ICF can take between 4-14 weeks, depending on which route you are applying through.

The key to successfully acquiring your ACC credential is to build a strong foundation via your ACTP or ACSTH training.

Note: For the approval of the application, the candidate needs to submit one coach-client audio recording with the transcript. Once the application is approved, the coach has to undergo the Coach Knowledge Assessment (CKA) and receive at least 80% to pass the test and acquire the ACC credential.

Conclusion

Acquiring the ICF ACC credential is one of the biggest accomplishments for a budding coach. If you are passionate about coaching and want to leverage the resources and tools to help people navigate through the challenges in their lives, an ICF credential can help you achieve that.

Coaching has become the new voice and language for leaders. Corporate organizations are encouraging their employees in the executive and senior positions to undergo ICF coach certification programs to streamline coaching the team internally. If you are in corporate and wish to be sponsored, kindly reach out to us. If you are a decision-maker that wants to foster a coaching culture in the organization, Matrrix will be elated to partner with you.

Kickstart your ICF ACC credentialing process with Matrrix. Our series of comprehensive, experiential, and integrated coach training programs are ICF-accredited and are here to help you build the foundation from the ground up.