Coaching training and certifications form the basis for good coaching work. They impart competencies and skills that enable coaches to accompany their clients on the path to a fulfilled (professional) life and powerful decisions. Acquiring a renowned certification also helps coaches to position themselves as competent and certified competitors in the coaching market. In addition to association certifications such as those of the International Coaching Federation (ICF), certifications from accredited training institutes are particularly useful. These certifications are awarded for the fact that the trainees have undergone rigorous learning and passed demanding final examinations. They also pave the way for association certification.
With the training course in Co-Active Coaching we offer one of the world's leading ICF-accredited coaching training programs. This is a program that allows you to get your Coaching Certification. The program starts with a basic training (Co-Active Coaching Fundamentals) and then offers you the opportunity to deepen your coaching skills, gain practical experience and professionalize yourself as a coach as part of a certification program. In this article, this certification program is described in more detail, e.g. what requirements are placed on participants, how the Co-Active Coaching program is structured and which certifications it offers.
Co-Active Coaching training is widely recognized as the most thorough training and certification program in the industry. As the largest and most established professional coach training organization in the world, the Co-Active Training Institute (CTI) has trained more than 145,000 coaches since the early 1990s, including employees from more than one-third of the Fortune 100 and many other international companies.
In recognition of your skills and exceptional performance, CTI awards you the title of Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC) upon completion of the certification program, which can be used as a post-nominal title which, unlike the ICF certifications, does not have to be renewed but is valid indefinitely.
The prerequisite for admission to the CPCC Program for your Coaching Certification is participation in the first modules of the Co-Active Coach Training (Fundamentals and Intermediate). Registration may take place after the Process module. The last module of the coach training, Synergy, may still be completed after the start of the CPCC Program; however, you must have completed it at the latest before the end of the training phase of the Coaching Certification.
Applications for certification can be made throughout the year directly from the CTI Student Portal. Start dates are usually once per calendar month (except December), with the next three start dates always available for selection. For a later start, you must wait until your preferred month is called up.
The registration deadline is always the first of the previous month. For example, if you would like to start in January, you would have to register by December 1. However, if you register shortly before the deadline, it is always possible that you will not be able to start in your preferred month but will be "pushed back" by one month because the available places are already taken. This is all the more likely if you want to start in September, October or January, as these months are usually in particularly high demand.
When you register, you must name the coach who will accompany you during your certification phase. This coach must be certified as a CPCC and also have a certificate as a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) or Master Certified Coach (MCC) from ICF.
Usually, certification takes place in English. After you have registered, CTI will let you know whether you can start in your preferred month or whether you have to wait another month. At the beginning of your start month, you will then be invited to choose the time you would like to attend the training calls. CTI offers a range of different time slots with their number depending on the start date.
Special language pods in other languages also start at irregular intervals, e.g. in German or Dutch. In these pods, all course materials are in English,q however, the language of instruction is then in the "special language". A special language pod can always start when exactly nine participants are registered. It is not possible to predict in advance when exactly this will be. If you would like to register for such a pod, please enter "German/Dutch Pod" and "Competence" when registering in the Student Portal so that you are not assigned to an English Pod. CTI will inform all participants as soon as the pod group is complete.
The training phase of the CPCC Program lasts 25 weeks, during which so-called Pod and Triad Calls take place alternately. This begins with the first Pod Call around the middle of the starting month. These training calls take place on Zoom and last 90 minutes each. In the Pod Call, a trainer (the so-called Certification Pod Leader or CPL) leads the group of nine people to deepen the techniques and skills of Co-Active Coaching. In a Triad Call, on the other hand, sub-groups of three people come together to coach each other, alternating between the roles of coach, coachee and observer. The first three Triad Calls take place under the guidance of a trainer (Group Supervisor) and are called Group Supervisions.
Extensive learning material is available online for each week of the training phase, which should be read or listened to in preparation for the respective training calls. There will also be some homework each week that you will post online and which will be commented on and evaluated by your CPL. Some of these will be assessed to see if they meet the standard and you will only be admitted to the final exam if all the assessed homework is up to speed.
100 hours of coaching
You must also complete 100 hours with your own coaching clients before taking the final exam and ensure that your coaching practice includes at least five paying coachees at any point during the training phase. Paying means that the consideration is monetary, although it is quite common to coach for smaller amounts during certification. Coaching sessions with colleagues at your company that are carried out as part of an agreement with your employer also count as paid coaching if they take place within your (paid) working hours. You may provide up to 25 of your coaching hours with barter clients who provide you with an appropriate coaching fee in the form of another service. It makes sense to have more clients than the minimum of five, as this makes it easier to reach the target of 100 coaching hours. Furthermore, you may provide up to twelve of these coaching hours through coaching with your own coach; however, coaching with your own coach must not be less than six hours.
In the Triad Calls, participants practice how to translate the learning experiences from the Pod Calls into deeper, more powerful coaching. Once a month (i.e. six times during the training phase) you will have the opportunity to submit a recording of your own coaching session of your choice to a supervisor who will give you feedback and guide you on how your coaching needs to change in order to meet the requirements of a CPCC. (If you would like supervision in a language other than the official training language, you can ask CTI for this when you register. CTI offers supervision in various languages and will be happy to assist you in this regard as long as instructors with the appropriate language skills are available on the desired start date. Supervision in English will always be available).
All certification deliverables must be completed within 30 days of the last Pod Call, except for the 100 coaching hours. The latter must be completed no later than twelve months after the start month. Once you have indicated to CTI that you have completed all deliverables (including your coaching), you have 30 days to schedule your oral exam. The exam should take place no later than 18 months after the first Pod Call. Thus, you still have some time after the training phase to complete your 100 coaching hours if necessary.
In the oral exam, you will be tested by two CTI examiners by coaching both of them one after the other during a Zoom call. The other examiner will then evaluate your coaching performance and it is necessary that both examiners assess your performance as meeting the requirements for a CPCC.
Comprehensive information on registration, program structure and procedure (including costs) can be found on the CTI website. There you can also download the CPCC Info Packet, which gives you a detailed overview of the program. We strongly recommend that you read the Info Packet before registering for the CPCC Program.
If you pass your exam, you will be informed by CTI a few days later and will receive access to your Digital Badge, which you can use to identify yourself as a CPCC online or in your correspondence. A few weeks later, you will receive your certificate from CTI by mail. If you fail, you may retake the exam for a fee within twelve months of your first exam. If you have not passed the exam three years after your first pod call, your right to retake the CPCC exam expires. However, you still have the option of repeating the CPCC Program for a fee or applying to ICF for certification.
When you graduate as a CPCC, you will have completed a full Level 2 Program from ICF and completed a total of 100 hours of coach-specific training. This gives you easier access to ICF's certifications and qualifies you to register for the Associate Certified Coach (ACC) or Professional Certified Coach (PCC) on the Level 2 Path. You will then have already largely fulfilled the necessary requirements for acquiring these ICF Certificates (Education, Coaching Experience, Mentor Coaching and Performance Evaluation).
For the PCC, however, you must provide evidence of a total of 500 coaching hours since attending Fundamentals, as the 100 coaching hours of the CPCC are not sufficient for the PCC certificate. For both ICF certificates, there is then a Credentialing Exam from ICF in which you must prove that you can coach according to the ICF Core Competencies and that you know and can apply the Ethical Standards. All information about ICF certification (including costs) can be found on the ICF website. Our blog article on this topic also provides a good introduction to ICF certification.
Would you like to know if the Co-Active Coaching program fits your need? At which locations you can participate in this program? Or maybe you have another question. Feel free to contact our program advisers for personalized advice.
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