I can give you some information about “life coaches”.

As of right now in the U.S, federal and/or state law does not require a coach to be “certified”.
A life coach is NOT a healthcare professional and should NEVER present themselves as “counselor”, “psychologist” etc. Unless of course they are certified in those areas some Dr’s, social workers decide to advise or do live coaching along with their current career.

It would be helpful to think of a life coach as a consultant, expert or advisor if you will in a certain “niche”. Like you were looking for a time management coach or a “hyper-link” sent you to one.

It is an on-going debate within the coaching community about coaches who are educated in their niche or expert area such as (time management,grieving,relationships, etc) and continue to do so everyday but choose not to certify themselves with an affiliation. On the flip side are coaches that are . Some of these coaches are both. Some certified coaches never take a course and are not experts by real life exp or ongoing training in their particular area but take one course to be certified and presto they are or claim to be “life coaches”. If you Google “certified life coaching programs” you will see what I mean. The websites that do the certification usually state they are non-profit org’s but charge a membership fee for you to list with them .

So certification or a life coach holding a piece of paper that says “certified” does not mean you are getting the best coach for you.

I have been life coaching for several years in the self-esteem, self-confidence and relationship niche. I just now started a web-site lol (technology challenged

My experience/credentials:
I have been married for 15 years that in itself in this day and age makes me an expert (just kidding) and still I am happily married (believe it or not lol) and I am working on my BA in sociology. However I am not “certified with a service or affiliate” Again life coaching is not a federal or state regulated thing because life coaches should not be giving out any healthcare advice. My clients some that I have had for over 2 years, know that I do not hold a certificate from an org or affilate and are satisfied I would say very satisfied with my life coaching services. Some clients however feel more comfortable knowing their coach has a certificate and that is all personal choice. Thats what your life coach choice should really come down to personal feelings with your coach. Someone you feel comfortable with and you feel can help you in a particular area where you may have a block or feel like you are stuck in a rut. Think of a life coach as your own personal “cheerleader” if you will silly I know but when it comes down to most areas that is what we are.

My advice to you is to talk with a coach if you are looking for one seriously. A good coach will NEVER charge for consultation. They will talk with you and usually they have a process they go through kind of like an interview about your wants and needs and to see if you feel comfortable with them and the service they provide and vice versa. A good coach should usually have a referral network should your personalities and methods not match.

Ken I hope that if you are looking for a time management coach that you find a good one and remember a coach with a paid for certificate doesn’t always mean that person will be the best fit with your personality and that really is what it is all about.

Good luck
peace and happiness
Hope

P.S
Ken
I am a new member of that site;) Coachville, if you would like e-mail me and I can give you my website and perhaps recommend someone.