Life Skills Coaching - Advanced Course

The Advanced Life Skills Coaching Diploma course is designed as a complete professional training package, incorporating a full range of therapeutical models in a complete holistic life skills coaching programme.

The student will gain competence in modalities including; Basic Counselling, Psychoanalysis, CBT, Coaching, Advanced Coaching, Basic NLP and Self Hypnosis. These are all combined with the knowledge of how to work with support networks and other professionals, a well as how to set up in professional practice.

Extensive use of case studies is combined with examination of specific application topics (such as stress, anger, smoking and emotional issues) so that the student will gain knowledge of how to apply skills to a range of typical client presentations and issues. The course is designed to enable the student to adhere to the existing National Occupational Standards for Counselling.

What is Life Coaching

• What to expect from the course
• What is coaching
• What are lifeskills
• What elements of therapy are contained within life coaching

What do clients usually want from Life Coaching?

• Typical presenting clients
• Typical presented problems
• Typical presented goals
• Dealing with personal prejudices and opinions

Surface life coaching versus holistic life coaching?

• Behavioural therapy approach and rapid intervention
• Holistic theory and cycles of change
• Clients with deeper issues wanting only surface change
• Ethics of eliciting deeper change

Common misconceptions and errors

• Errors made by practitioners
• Mistaken beliefs about coaching
• Examining the role of the life coach

Areas and levels of change

• The different levels of life (looking at different models)
• Expectations from areas of life
• Imbalances in levels of life
• Dissonance between surface needs and driving needs

Counselling Skills

• What is counselling
• National Occupational Standards for Counselling

Counselling Skills continued

• Open questioning
• Basic methods (reflection, reframing, summary, challenge)
• Common errors
• Balancing listening and assessment
• Common models of counselling (Egan, Nelson etc.)

Basic Coaching Skills

• Determining validity of goals
• Determining ecology of goals
• Three stages of goal setting
• Working through the process
• Case study

Advanced Coaching Skills

• Specialised Coaching techniques

Coaching the client in relaxation techniques

• Teaching basic relaxation methods, introduction
• Is it meditation or self hypnosis?
• Models of visualisation
• Models of personal affirmations
• Safety Precautions with teaching aids e.g. tapes

Coaching the client in altered states

• Is it self hypnosis or NLP?
• Eliciting different states of relaxation, concentration, elation
• Choosing emotional states and ensuring ecology
• Anchoring emotional and physical states at will
• Performing exercises with the client
• Ensuring the client can continue to adapt and expand
• Training aids: Log book, handouts, tapes etc.
• Recommended books and topics to read

Coaching the client in Behavioural change

• Safety, fears, ecology and good practice
• Image manipulation
• Advanced use of anchoring
• Affirmations in relaxed state
• Affirmations in waking state)

Coaching the Client in advanced behavioural changes

• Using principles of CBT
• CBT principles with the client
• CBT as homework
• Self analysis using CBT

CBT continued (Part II: Toxic thoughts)

Basic Psychoanalysis theory and useful techniques

• Analysis in coaching
• Topic association method

Referral and working with other practitioners

• Knowing when the case is too complex
• Referral to other practitioners
• Protecting yourself
• Professional clients “the heart sick”
• Cooperating with other practitioners
• Cooperating with Medical Doctors

Emotional issues and case studies

• Confidence
• Self Esteem
• Self Image
• Behavioural versus holistic
• Case study

Deeper emotional issues and case studies

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Phobias and Fears
• Ensuring appropriate advertising, referral and practice
• Case study

Weight Loss and Control

• Lifestyle issues
• Assisting the client in choosing a diet plan
• Assisting the client in choosing an exercise plan
• Boundaries of the life coach in weight loss advice
• Ensuring appropriate advertising and practice
• Case study

Stop Smoking Coaching

• Lifestyle issues
• Positive versus negative methods
• Visualisation methods
• Motivational counselling methods
• Self help techniques
• Learning aids e.g. tapes and handouts
• Case study

Performance Coaching

• Common types of performance coaching
• Sports performance coaching
• Business performance coaching
• Public speaking coaching
• Boundaries of the life coach in performance coaching
• Case study

Faith and Spiritual issues

• Common types
• What is spiritual and what is faith?
• Grief and bereavement
• Abuse
• Religious imposition
• Fear of the future
• Supporting without converting
• Working within existing faith models
• Case study

Anger and Stress Management Coaching

• Safety concerns, confidentiality and referral
• Addressing lifestyle issues
• Relaxation therapy
• Nutrition issues
• Relationship issues
• Underlying causes
• Behavioural change
• Working with other professionals
• Case study

Working with couples or groups

• Typical presented issues
• Initial meeting and planning response
• Facilitating discussions
• Homework and agreements
• When to refer and working alongside other professionals

Non-Specific Issues

• Common presentations
• Feeling lost
• Not happy despite having everything
• The survivor with no time to live
• The person in imbalance
• Tracking the feelings and memories
• Using advanced anchoring for changing remembered emotions
• Combining anchoring with inner child methods
• Working with service users (clients) of state agencies
• Case study

Professional Practice and Responsibilities

• Preparing for practice, what you need
• Principles of informed consent and contracts / agreement
• Providing information in appropriate formats for the learner
• Dissemination of information from sources of authority
• Creating your own learning materials
• Advertising
• Registration and Insurance
• NOS National Occupational Standards
• Confidentiality and ethics
• What you may or may not call yourself
• Importance of Ongoing Professional Development and supervision
• Other topics of training to support your career
• Looking after yourself and your loved ones

For a more detailed syllabus on this course, click here

On completion of your course, you will receive two qualifications:

Qualification 1: Life Skills Coaching - Advanced Diploma

Life Skills Coaching - Advanced Diploma issued by Stonebridge Associated Colleges, entitling you to use the letters SAC Dip after your name.

Qualification 2: ASET Level 4 Life Skills Coaching - Advanced Award

This Course leads to an ASET Level 4 Award Certificate for successful learners. That means that it is independantly accredited at a level of learning equivalent to level 4 on the National Qualifications Framework (NFQ) for England, Wales and Northern Ireland (in which case GCSE's are at levels 1 and 2 and A Levels are at level 3).

The Award has been designed by a learning provider to meet specific learners' or employers' requirements and as such is not listed as a qualification on NQF. While the duration, content or assessment may vary from similar national qualifications, in accrediting the programme at level 4, ASET attests that its learning outcomes are at an equivalent level to a level 4 national qualification.

In order to offer our students the most convenient and flexible distance learning courses, Stonebridge Associated College offers you the option to study for your course via two methods:

• 1. Via the traditional paper-based method.
• 2. Through the online method via ElearnUK.

When you study through ElearnUK you can quickly access your course material online and submit all of your question papers to your tutor online, using your unique student account. You have access to all of your course material immediately, and when you submit question papers, your tutor sends you an email containing your results and feedback.

At the end of the course you will receive an award issued by Stonebridge Associated College, and also gain full ASET accreditation for the course.

With this course you will have unlimited access to your own personal tutor who specialises in their field of study. It is your personal tutor's role to ensure that you receive constructive feedback and to deal with any queries you may have. You are more than welcome to telephone, fax or email your personal tutor.

You will also have access to a dedicated and friendly team of administrators and course advisors who offer sound and professional guidance and advice when you need it. This ensures that you will never feel neglected and that you will always succeed!

There is no experience or previous qualifications required for enrolment on this course. It is available to all students, of all academic backgrounds.

This is only an approximate figure and is dependant upon how much time you can dedicate to your studies and how well you grasp the learning concepts in the course material. Furthermore, at the end of each lesson there is a question paper that needs to be completed and returned to your tutor. You should allow at least 1 - 2 hours of study to complete each question paper.

The approximate amount of time required to complete the course is: 250 hrs.

Assessment Method

After each lesson there will be a question paper, which needs to be completed and submitted to your personal tutor for marking. This method of continual assessment ensures that your personal tutor can consistently monitor your progress and provide you with assistance throughout the duration of the course.

What's Included

• All study materials
• Study Guide
• Full Tutor and Admin support
• The course fee includes the ASET registration and certification fee (valued at up to £30.00).

What is ASET

ASET is a recognised National Awarding Body.

This course is accredited by ASET. ASET are a leading National Awarding Body, recognised in the U.K by the Department for Education and Skills (DfEs), Learning Skills Council (LSC) and the Qualifications & Curriculum Authority (QCA). ASET specialise in providing, quality-assuring and certificating vocational learning programmes.

For more information on this award, click here

Professional Membership

On completion of this course students can apply for membership to 'Counselling' - a registered charity - and they will be able to use the initials 'CCC Reg.' after their names. (See website: http://www.counselling.ltd.uk)

The Association for Coaching

The Association for Coaching recognises successful completion of our course as providing eligibility for professional associate membership (subject to meeting other individual criteria).

On completion of this course students can apply for membership to the Society for Holistic Therapists and Coaches (SHTC), a professional body who are dedicated to recognised standards of qualification and practice - students will also be able to use the initials 'SHTC' after their names.

For more information please visit the SHTC website at www.societytherapistscoaches.com

Practical Training

Optional practical training is run through the SHTC and is available upon request for this course.

Practical training is not required in order to complete the course. Students will receive both the College Diploma and the ASET Award even if they do not complete the optional practical training.

For more information, please click here.