GETTING YOUR ICF CREDENTIAL
Congratulations on your initiative towards achieving your coaching credentials!
Our coaching programs can assist you in achieving your professional status with the International Coach Federation.
Our Diploma of Workplace and Business Coaching incorporating the Certificate IV in Workplace and Business Coaching is an Accredited Coach Training Program (ACTP) with the ICF.
We were one of the first programs in Australia to achieve this status back in 2007.
We are proud of our continual renewal and our commitment to support our clients in achieving their professional status in the industry.
WHY ARE ICF CREDENTIALS IMPORTANT?
From our perspective, achieving your ICF credential is one of the steps that you can take to establishing your professionalism in the coaching industry in Australia and across other countries around the globe.
As we find in other industries, methodologies and practices, being part of an industry body, committing to a code of ethics and standards and commitment to on-going professional development are all part of being part of a professional industry.
We have noticed over many years, particularly in government tenders and large coaching tenders, that organisations are asking coaches to state their qualifications and their ICF credentials. In some cases the request for credentials has been stated as ‘mandatory’. And we have noticed that it is becoming an influential factor and a way of differentiating yourself.
Having said all this, a number of clients say ‘no-one has ever asked me for my ICF credentials’. Our thinking is that clients may not ask for credentials but they may have already checked out whether you have have them or not or it is assumed. And despite whether clients ‘ask or not’ for us, credentialing is more about those other things that we’ve stated above in terms of professionalism, on-going development etc.
That’s the reason that we consider that moving towards the achievement of your ICF credential is a worthy goal.
We have put together some information for you to assist you in understanding the relationship between Open Door’s coaching qualifications and programs and the ICF credentialing requirements.
You need to know that this information is subject to change. It does not replace the information on the ICF Global website. You should read this information along side the information on the ICF Global website.
LOOKING TO APPLY FOR YOUR ACC CREDENTIAL?
The Associate Credentialed Coach (ACC) credential with the ICF requires a number of different requirements. We are just going to talk about the coach specific training hours. You can see all the requirements on the ICF Global website.
The ACC credential requires 60 hours of coach specific training hours – 48 hours must be from coaching training that is direct interaction and 12 hours can be from self-study.
If you complete your Certificate IV in Workplace and Business Coaching qualification via our face-to-face method you automatically receive enough coach specific training hours to apply for your ACC credential via the ACSTH application (Accredited Coach Specific Training Hours application).
If you complete your Certificate IV in Workplace and Business Coaching qualification via our on-line method you receive 30 hours of coach specific training hours towards your ACC credential (18 hours from the direct training plus 12 hours of self-study). We know you will have done many more hours of ‘self-study’ whilst completing your course, but you can only count 12 hours towards the credential.
You can ‘make up’ the remainder hours by attending supervised coach practice events and/or achieving our Diploma of Workplace and Business Coaching qualification. Once you have achieved the additional hours you can apply via the ACSTH application.
LOOKING TO APPLY FOR YOUR PCC CREDENTIAL?
The Professional Credentialed Coach (PCC) credential with the ICF requires a number of different requirements. We are just going to talk about the coach specific training hours. You can see all the requirements on the ICF Global website.
The PCC credential requires 125 hours of coach specific training hours – 100 hours must be from coaching training that is direct interaction and 25 hours can be from self-study.
If you complete both your Certificate IV in Workplace and Business Coaching qualification and the Diploma of Workplace and Business Coaching via our face-to-face method you automatically receive enough coach specific training hours to apply for your PCC credential via the ACTP application (Accredited Coach Training Program application).
If you complete your Diploma Workplace and Business Coaching qualification via our on-line method you receive 45 hours of coach specific training hours towards your PCC credential.
You can ‘make up’ the remainder hours by counting your hours from the Certificate IV in Workplace and Business Coaching, attending supervised coach practice events and/or other coach specific training offered by Open Door. Once you have achieved the additional hours you can apply via the ACSTH application.
LOOKING TO APPLY FOR YOUR MCC CREDENTIAL?
The Master Credentialed Coach (MCC) credential with the ICF requires a number of different requirements. We are just going to talk about the coach specific training hours. You can see all the requirements on the ICF Global website.
The MCC credential requires 200 hours of coach specific training hours – at least 160 hours must be from coaching training that is direct interaction and 40 hours can be from self-study.
Achieving the Certificate IV in Workplace and Business Coaching, the Diploma of Workplace and Business Coaching and other coach training will enable you to achieve the required hours over time.
Here is a summary of how our programs contribute towards the ICF requirements for coach specific training hours:
YOUR COACHING IN THE WORKPLACE COUNTS TOWARDS COACHING HOURS
The ACC credential calls for 100 hours of client coaching hours. 75 hours can be ‘paid hours’ and 25 hours can be ‘unpaid (pro-bono)’ coaching hours. You need to coach a minimum of 8 clients across these hours.
The PCC credential calls for 500 hours of client coaching hours. 450 hours can be ‘paid hours’ and 50 hours can be ‘unpaid (pro-bono)’ coaching hours. You need to coach a minimum of 25 clients across these hours.
The great news is that if you are coaching in your workplace, these hours of coaching can be counted towards the ‘paid hours’ above.
The coaching hours that you do as part of your qualification does not count towards the hours above.
HOW DO I APPLY FOR A CREDENTIAL?
You need to apply to the International Coach Federation (ICF) directly using the appropriate application and by paying the appropriate fees. Open Door does not submit applications or collect fees on behalf of the ICF and we do not play a part in assessing your application. We do not have any control over how quickly your application is processed or whether your application is successful or not.
HOW DO I MAINTAIN MY CREDENTIAL ONCE I HAVE IT?
The renewal of your ICF credential requires you to undertake Continuing Coach Education (CCE) to be completed in the three years since the initial award of your credential or since your last credential renewal, as follows:
- Associate Certified Coach (ACC) at least 30 hours
- Professional Certified Coach (PCC) at least 40 hours
- Master Certified Coach (MCC) at least 40 hours
Open Door Coaching runs regular Coaching Cafe webinars that help you earn your CCE hours. More information can be found by clicking here.
For more information about the ICF requirements click here.
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