Becoming a Professional Life Coach: Lessons from the Institute of Life Coach Training

This book really lays a good foundation for developing different streams in your life-coaching practice. I was really seeking a book to help round out some of the areas I was weak in and this book did not disappoint. Highly suggested reading for anyone seeking to build a flourishing business in life-coaching!

I highly recommend "Becoming a Professional Life Coach" for both new and experienced coaches, and for anyone interested in learning the "coach approach" in their lives, business and communities. Today coaching skills are an invaluable resource, both in the workplace and for personal fulfillment, yet there are still millions that don't even know what coaching is or how to become one. Pat and Diane deliver an easy to read, comprehensive guide offering history, theory and practical application of the most potent skills used by professional life coaches worldwide. This book addresses a great need in the marketplace. As a veteran coach, it was refreshing to expand my own depth of knowledge on skills I've been using for years. They describe the skills, and when and how to use the skill most effectively. I also love how they included the developmental stages of consciousness, which help people recognize how ready someone is to change, and the best way to support someone to the next stage. They've also included sections on identifying life purpose, creating fulfillment and working on practical issues like money. The case studies integrate real-life examples to demonstrate how a skill or process is put into action. Since Patrick Williams is the founder of his own coaching school, I expected a cookie cutter curriculum from his own school's teachings. However, I was pleasantly surprised at how thoroughly they integrated and referenced the best disciplines from a variety of coaching schools, as well as useful and distinguished models from the field of psychology. It is no wonder that Patrick Williams is known as "The Ambassador for Life Coaching." As a veteran life coach, I applaud Patrick for inspiring thousands more to integrate a "coach approach" in their everyday lives and/or become a life coach themselves. The world could use a few more life coaches, and this is a perfect place to begin. Mary E. Allen, CPCC, MCC Author of The Power of Inner Choice: 12 Weeks to Living a Life YOU Love Host of "Conversations with the Masters" Host of "Conversations with the Masters of Coaching" [...]

Being a truly effective ally of another person requires us to know both what to do and how to be, Becoming a Professional Life Coach gives us both. While the task of creating a comprehensive training text on the broad field of life coaching is quite daunting, Patrick Williams and Diane Menendez take it on with what appears to be real joy and they master it. The reader is both instructed and inspired cover to cover. The challenge of doing more than producing another coaching "cookbook" is met and exceeded with an excellent integration of both practical technique and well grounded theory. Becoming a Professional Life Coach integrates what is sometimes missing in much coach training, such as Prochaska's Stage of Readiness For Change. The book takes terms which have become well-worn catch phrases, such as fulfillment and empowerment, and infuses them with new life, helping the coach to truly understand their meaning, importance and their use. Becoming a Professional Life Coach will become the touchstone in the field of training life coaches. Michael Arloski, Ph.D., PCC, author of Wellness Coaching For Lasting Lifestyle Change.

For a seasoned Life Coach, with 30+ years of experience, I was astonished at the wealth of insights I uncovered. This book is ripe with wisdom for coaches at any stage of their work. The evolution of our purpose must continue throughout our coaching lives. This book is a guide to helping us discover the power of purpose in coaching ourselves and others. I am confident it will be a classic in the coaching profession for years to come.

This book is a great resource. I am a life coach and have used many of the exercises with my clients. The book is also good to give to my new clients who are interested in the field of coaching. I also enjoy the quick history of coaching in the beginning. This is good resource to have on the shelf to be used as needed.