The Spencer Institute offers several coaching programs. Decide which ones will serve you best as you develop your career as a professional coach.

How did the field of coaching get started?
In the past, many people offered some form of coaching, but did not call themselves coaches. The field as we know it today started in the early 1980s. Prior to the term "coaching," people referred to themselves as mentors, advisors, consultants or just as a "helping hand." Today, coaching is a highly recognized and respected occupation. Since coaching is not counseling, social work, sports psychology or psychotherapy, there are no state or regional laws for "coaching" someone on important issues in their life. There is also no government-approved governing body for the coaching field. You have complete freedom in selecting your specific training and how you develop your business and your career.

There are an estimated 40,000 coaches practicing in 70 countries worldwide. And the coaching industry continues to grow at a rate of approximately 20% per year. Coaching is currently a $1 billion a year industry. One of the most appealing aspects of coaching is that 70% of coaches work mostly by telephone and email with a nationwide practice.

What is Life Coaching?

Coaching is the process of observation of existing thinking, behavioral and linguistic patterns, setting specific goals, discerning hidden saboteurs and supporting the client in making a plan of action and following it to achieve the desired results. It is creating such a deep respect and rapport, the client feels comfortable, and most of all safe, to move from their “stuck” place to success.

Spencer Institute Coaches are trained to listen to their clients’ words, observe their actions, and become aware of the way their client currently interprets the world around them. Intelligence is about having fine distinctions about a topic or field. The finer the distinctions, the more wisdom or perception is available. This program will teach the coach fine distinctions about human behavior. By identifying limiting strategic filters and beliefs through close observation of verbal and non-verbal patterns, the SI Coach elicits solutions and facilitates resolution of conflicts.

Spencer Institute Coaches approach their clients with the understanding that there is a positive intention behind every behavior, and that there is no such thing as failure – there is only feedback. The ability to identify and interpret this feedback is one of the many ways Spencer Institute Coaches find what is blocking a person from their goal. Then, together, the coach and client create a feed-forward plan of action to achieve goals and eliminate the challenges. Believing that people already have abundant resources within themselves, Spencer Institute Life Coaches act as detectives to identify the strategies that are already successful in other contexts of a person’s life and to tease out hidden saboteurs that may be keeping their client from achieving their goals. They then guide their client in discovering how to apply their successful strategies as a way of overcoming their identified saboteurs. By sharing communication tools and strategies for success, this method of coaching builds a relationship with the client that shapes the client’s ability to make better and finer distinctions leading to solid decisions and life choices more naturally and easily.

What is at the heart of effective Coaching?

Great communication skills are at the heart of effective life coaching. A skilled life coach understands the relationship between how people think and communicate. They have an awareness of the relationship between language patterns and behavior. Spencer Institute Life Coaches are trained to track the assumptions and thinking processes of the client reflected in their use of language. Being able to track the clients beliefs, behaviors and metaphors of life enable the coach to ask appropriate and pertinent questions of the client. This facilitates a deep self exploration for the client that often leads to subtle shifts in the client's awareness that often makes all the difference in making significant progress towards desired outcomes.

3. So why is NLP so useful for Coaching?

NLP provides a human technology for creating change. NLP is a technology whose domain is the study of communication and thinking patterns. It studies the relationship between language, thought and action. Spencer Institute Life Strategies Coaches are comprehensively trained in NLP technology, they offer a considerable advantage compared with most life coaches in terms of time, effectiveness and quality as they are trained in the latest version of NLP referred to as NLP to the 100th power, or Hemispheric Integration™.

What Makes the Spencer Institute Life Strategies Coaching Program Unique?

This program has the missing link between coaching, that gives practical advice about what to do, and psychotherapy, that focuses on talking about the past. Hemispheric Integration™ and neuro-linguistic skills provide the structure of how to move through challenges and beyond theoretical concepts, by creating a positive road map to success.

The Spencer Institute's Coaching Programs are not simply cheerleading. Encouragement and positive affirmations such as: "You can do it!" "It's easy." "Just go ahead and try it!" are wonderful, 'feel good' affirmations - and yet, they carry no specific information about how to "just do it." What is missing with the "cheerleading approach" is a specific action plan and strategies of action that will create a pathway to success. With The Spencer Institute, through the use of Hemispheric Integration™, we provide you with the information and structure of the necessary tools for balancing the brain. The information in this program is based on structural research, not folklore or testimonials.

The Spencer Institute's Coaching Programs are not 'talk therapy' delving into the past recesses of personal history with no understanding of the patterns and brainwashing that are held often out of our conscious awareness. Life Strategies does look at the current influences from our past to eliminate any hidden obstacles that could become a roadblock to current and future success.

How much money will I make as a Certified Coach?

In the U.S., the average coach makes roughly $400/month per client. This is for four 45-minute coaching sessions per month. If you are doing corporate coaching, you can expect to be paid $150-$200 per hour. It is not uncommon for a seasoned coach to make well over $100,000 per year. Most coaches ask for a minimum of a three-month commitment to their coaching program. There are many instances where a coach will be hired to help resolve a specific issue which may be acute in nature. Seldom is a contract used unless you are working with a government agency. We show you how to make a great living! Your life coaching business development is a significant part of your training.

Does coaching really work!
Yes! This is why:

1. Most of us don't know where we're going, what our lives are about, and how our values affect us day to day. Coaching helps us clarify our values, beliefs, purpose, and goals.

2. We may know where we're going and what we need to do, but we forget or simply get stuck in our limiting belief systems, ineffective habits, or inability to focus. A well-trained coach gets us back on track by helping us identify limiting beliefs and ineffective habits and find more effective ways of living and enjoying life.

3. Many times we resist change because it's easier and more comfortable to stay the way we are. Any change we make causes resistance and backlash within ourselves as well as from other people in our lives. A coach helps us move beyond that resistance -with greater ease and flow. In the coaching relationship you may decide to work on all areas of your life at once or just focus on one.

What will I do as a Certified Life Strategies Coach?

As you decide to become a life coach, you will be an essential ally to those who seek your advice and guidance. You will assess and align your client's beliefs, values, morals and support system as a means for them to naturally and easily achieve their goals. You will guide them in creating a plan of action while remaining a resource to keep their motivation focused on reaching their goals.

You will have many different roles. Often times, as a graduate, you will use your new coaching knowledge to augment an existing talent or skill set that your clients posses. Many coaches come from a wellness background. Fitness professionals may incorporate whole life coaching into their menu of services. A business person who holds an MBA may choose to coach executives on a whole life perspective of mastering the corporate world. Those who work in a personnel or human resources department will use their new interpersonal communication skills to better evoke excellence in others. A religious leader can use his or her coaching skills to better counsel members of their congregation. A psychologist may wish to transition out of traditional therapy and work with clients on future plans rather than past issues. The benefit of being a Certified Spencer Institute Life Strategies Coach is that you will learn how to work with structure instead of working with content. Coaches that work with content tell their clients to "be happy," "be proactive," "feel good," without providing the structure or "instructions" on HOW TO be happy, proactive, feel good, etc. You will learn the difference that makes the difference in getting reproducible results.

As you can now see, with your education and life strategies coaching certification from the Spencer Institute, you can incorporate coaching into your current field or area of expertise. You may also wish to move in a totally new direction; the choice is completely yours.

People hire coaches for a wide variety of reasons. Here are some of the most common:

Life Strategies Coaching is.....

The number one home-based profession, according to the American magazine Start-ups.

Defined as "The art of facilitating the performance, learning and development of another."

A helping profession, which embraces all aspects of life: work and career, relationships, community, self-development, wellness, abundance, education, and spirituality. Clients may choose to focus within one of these issues, or to follow a program of re-examining and enhancing various areas of life.

A way for the coach himself or herself, through self- and peer coaching, to enhance the quality of his or her communication with everyone: family, friends and colleagues, and to be a better manager, supervisor, chairperson, community leader, helper, or team member.

Life Strategies Coaching is a profession that is free from the over-regulation and licensing restrictions, which surround counseling and therapy professions in some countries. Your self-employed coaching career is portable should you decide to resettle in various parts of the U.S., Canada, UK, Europe, or elsewhere without retraining with a locally approved body. Because most coaching is done via the telephone, you have virtually no geographical limits for your client base. You will no longer be tied down to your office desk; you may enjoy a vacation as far away as your cell phone may reach. Best of all, your clients call you at their scheduled appointment times, giving you the freedom to plan your day and at the same time saving on any long distance fees.

Unrivaled in its choice of client specialties. You can find your niche coaching people in a particular career, job, age group, stage of life, spiritual direction, ethnic group, type of relationship, role in life, wellness need, disability or challenge, or any special need for support of which you have knowledge or life experience. Depending on your background or skill, you can coach company CEO's or women returning to work after raising their children; you can help a highly-stressed professional make the transition to a more acceptable way of life; help successful people hone their skills; or help people "downshift" to a simpler lifestyle. The choice is now yours.

Additional Information About Coaching

How does coaching take place?
This will vary from coach to coach and client to client. In most cases, coaching is done over the phone. This allows you, the certified professional coach, to work from the comfort of your home. Some coaches use "teleclasses" or "telecoaching." In these cases, a coach conducts coaching sessions over a conference line to several clients at once, or he/she can work with just one individual. Other coaches prefer to use e-mail for follow-ups between coaching sessions to check on their clients' progress and give continued support and motivation. Still others prefer in-person sessions for a more personal approach.

What type of people become Certified Professional Life Coaches?
Our students include, but aren't restricted to the following: Business consultants, fitness and wellness professionals, doctors, lawyers, social workers, meditation instructors, spiritual consultants, career specialists, massage therapists, hyponotherapists, NLP practitioners, Time Line therapists, somatic therapists, natural health educators, Hemispheric Integration practitioners, esoteric professionals, psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors, MFTs, holistic health professionals, and biofeedback specialists.

How is coaching different from or similar to psychotherapy?
Some similarity exists, mainly in that the conversations between coach and client are confidential, as are those between patient and therapist. Largely, however, the coaching relationship is based on growth and movement toward achievement of goals, and not focus on the distant past. The time orientation of coaching is present and future, and in therapy it is mainly the past. Certainly there may be therapeutic issues that arise within the context of coaching. The Spencer Institute Life Strategies Coaching Program is not 'talk therapy' delving into the past recesses of personal history with no understanding of the patterns and brainwashing that are held often out of our conscious awareness. Life Strategies does look at the current influences from our past to eliminate any hidden obstacles that could become a roadblock to current and future success.

Our Life Strategies Coaching program is an integration of skills, states of excellence, and step-by-step thinking strategies leading to measurable and reproducible results through the use of Hemispheric IntegrationT techniques. As you go through the course and begin to practice the skills, you will appreciate the effectiveness of adding substance to the encouraging words as you become more than "just a cheerleader."

Here's what people are saying...

"It's the number one home-based profession."
START-UPS

"They're part therapist, part consultant--and they sure know how to succeed in business."
NEWSWEEK

"Career management coaches...can identify missing skills or style difficulties and offer pragmatic tips..."
WALL STREET JOURNAL

"The goal of coaching is the goal of good management to make the most of an organization's valuable resources."
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW

"...other companies offer coaching as a prerequisite...in the understanding that everyone has blind spots and can benefit from a detached observer."
NEW YORK TIMES

"Boomers find the budding profession can help focus them on business and personal growth."
LOS ANGELES TIMES

"It's tough to develop without help... with coaching you get to see your blind spots in a save environment."
THE DENVER POST

"Coaching is having a dedicated mentor; it's getting knowledgeable support and encouragement and a new way of looking at things when you need it."
EXECUTIVE FEMALE

"The benefits of coaching appear to win over even the most cynical clients within just a few weeks."
INDUSTRY WEEK

"Executive coaches are a hot new industry and a sign that you have truly arrived."
TRAINING MAGAZINE