What Is a Life Coach?

A life coach partners with clients to help them work toward a more ideal version of their life. Together, the coach and client may focus on bettering areas such as career, self-care, relationships, or anything else impacting the client’s daily well-being.

Coaching is typically a co-creative process led by the client’s wants and needs. The coach’s role in the process is to use various tools and techniques to help the client identify their goals, recognise obstacles, and draw from their motivations to work toward making those goals a reality.

What does a life coach do?

Many coaches aim to help their clients recognise their innate ability to independently navigate their paths toward long-term and sustainable growth. Life coaches do this by using techniques that help the client identify their goals, and then figure out how to achieve those goals in a way that aligns with the client’s natural tendencies and underlying values.

Some common techniques that life coaches may use include:

• Powerful questions: Reflecting and asking questions that encourage deeper thinking.

• Active listening: Interpreting both your verbal and nonverbal communications for deeper understanding.

• Motivational interviewing: Uncovering the core values beneath your desires to encourage empowerment.

• Planning and goal setting: Developing a plan to move toward set goals.

• Establishing accountability: Checking in on goal progress.

Some coaches may also implement additional techniques into their sessions to further encourage the growth process, such as meditation, breathwork, movement, energy practices like reiki, or even astrology. These techniques tend to be outside of the typical life coach’s scope of practice and often require more specific training.

Types of life coaches

Life coaches may be generalists, offering support across any range of needs, or they may specialise in particular areas of self-improvement. Typically, the approach will be the same. However, a specialised coach will likely have experience working with many clients or completing additional studies in their area of expertise.

Examples of specialisations include:

• Business and leadership coach

• Career coach

• Diet and nutrition coach

• Family coach

• Financial coach

• Health and wellness coach

• Meditation coach

• Relationship coach

• Sobriety and smoking cessation coach

• Spiritual coach

Life coach certifications

Coaching is an unregulated industry, meaning no laws govern who can or cannot start a coaching business. However, if you are looking to work with a coach, some widely recognized credentials are available for you to consider:

• International Coaching Federation (ICF): ICF is a popular coaching credential, with over 44,000 coaches around the world holding the certification [1]. To become an ICF coach, you must go through training programmes, complete a certain number of coaching hours, receive mentorship coaching, and pass an exam. You can pursue three levels of ICF credentials, depending on your experience. Across all levels, coaches participate in continued education and professional development to maintain their credentialed status.

• Health and Wellness Coaching Program: Wellness Jiva Private Limited offers certification programmes in health and wellness [2]. The programmes focus on understanding how a person’s integrated medical history, lifestyle choices, and background affect their health and wellness. They provide knowledge and insight for a life coach who wants to work in the health and wellness field but lacks a clinical degree.

• Other coaching certifications: You may encounter other forms of life coach certifications, often developed by individuals who have become influential in the coaching space. Consider the coaching methodologies to determine whether a certification programme fits your needs.

Coaches with any certification may work with clients across areas of need, though generally, each life coach will be different. Once you find a coach who seems aligned with your needs, ask to schedule a consultation to get more information on their approach to coaching.

How to become a life coach

Researching various credentialing bodies and training programmes can be a helpful place to start if you want to become a life coach. Their websites offer more information about coaching approaches and guiding principles, as well as more specific information about training requirements.

Difference between life coaching and therapy

A life coach and a therapist may offer some similar services, however, the two professions are distinct in important ways. A life coach practices forward thinking, working with you to move toward specific goals. A therapist may help you look forward, though they will also likely help you dig into your past and assess your experiences through a mental health lens.

Unlike coaching, therapy is a regulated industry. Therapists have a licence as mental health professionals who are qualified to diagnose and treat mental health conditions, including anxiety and depression and are obligated to adhere to certain ethical standards and privacy laws.

What can a life coach help with?

Although they can’t help with mental health conditions or past trauma, life coaches can help people handle immediate blockages and current realities as they work toward their goals. Some potential benefits of working with a life coach include:

• Enhanced work-life balance

• Improved daily habits

• Stronger self-awareness

• More mental flexibility

• Confident decision-making

How to find a life coach near you

To find a coach near you, it’s helpful to first know what kind of support you’re looking for. Here are a few things to consider:

• Location: Life coaches may work with clients in person, on the phone, or over video chat.

• Cost: Price structures can vary greatly depending on the coach, ranging from pro bono to hundreds of dollars per session.

• Your goals: If you know what your goals are, you can try to find a coach that specialises in your area of interest.

• Coaching style: If you want additional services, such as meditation or movement, you can seek out a coach who is also trained in those areas.

• Qualifications: Although being a life coach doesn’t require certification, many coaches choose to seek certification to legitimise their practice. You may want to consider a coach's credentials and experience before committing to one.

Once you know what you’re looking for, a good way to find a qualified coach is to search the ICF database. It offers searchable directories of its member coaches.

Continue learning.

The right life coach can help you improve your life and reach your goals. Finding a coach that offers services specific to your needs is imperative, so do some research to find a life coach that focuses on the areas in which you are looking for help. As you consider how a life coach may help you reach your goals, you may be able to enhance your self-awareness with online courses such as Yale’s The Science of Well-Being, University of Michigan’s Finding Purpose and Meaning in Life, or Mindshift: Break Through Obstacles to Learning and Discover Your Hidden Potential, all available on Coursera.