This article describes the masters in life coaching degree program, some of the subjects and courses covered in the degree, and why you may want to obtain this degree to advance your career. It will also present an online masters in life coaching program that you may want to consider enrolling in.
What Is a Masters in Life Coaching?
A life coach is a professional who is focused on motivating people to pursue their goals in life. With regards to health and fitness goals, for instance, these include exercise regimens, proper nutrition, and any other type of activity that plays a role in being fit and healthy. They can work with people of any age, although many choose to target their skills on a specific demographic, such as teenagers or the elderly.
Life coaches play several roles as they guide people to achieve their goals. They are motivators, strategists, and accountability partners. As a motivator, they will find ways to get you inspired and to urge you to continue during those times when you are feeling down. As strategists, they will develop strategies to help you achieve your goals in the easiest and fastest way. And as an accountability partner, they will make sure that you are accountable in the pursuit of your goals.
They may work within their clients’ homes, rather than from an office or center. It is common for these professionals to work on their own, although some will be employed in group clinics, particularly if there is a focus on issues such as obesity or mental health difficulties.
The position is still being developed, and it is not a protected profession. This means that anyone can call themselves a life coach, and many do. People with an NLP (neurolinguistics practitioner) certification, for instance, often work as life coaches. However, with people becoming increasingly demanding that they receive care and attention from properly trained individuals, obtaining a masters in life coaching is generally a great way to advance your career. This is also because it will enable you to advance the overall standing of the profession, and to lead and train others to become life coaches.
As a life coach, you will:
- Speak to clients to determine their goals and needs
- Use cognitive and behavioral therapy best practices
- Document any assessments and work that you do
- Help people to identify available tools, such as training programs or exercise regimes, to improve their health outcomes
Your goal will be to help people overcome the obstacles in their way so that they can meet their personal goals. While this may sound simplistic, it is actually highly complex, not in the least because people’s needs vary greatly, as do their abilities. You must learn to be a motivator, and inspiration, and a moral crutch to your clients.
Schools address this in a variety of different ways, developing their own curriculum. However, it is common to see courses, such as:
- Basic Psychology
- Relationship Building
- Ethical and Philosophical Issues
- Communication Skills
- Emphatic Skills
- Coaching Skills and Organizational Needs
- Diagnostics and Evaluation
Why Earn a Masters in Life Coaching?
One of the key reasons why you may want to consider earning a masters in life coaching, other than the fact that Payscale.com reports that life coaches earn around $33.78 per hour, is because it will enable you to further the career as a whole. You will be able to get a real sense of personal satisfaction in helping people achieve their goals. At present, a number of highly fragmented certifying bodies exist for life coaching, and these certifications are all voluntary. They include those offered by the:
- International Coach Federation (ICF), which offers nine different coaching masteries to become certified in, and you must be able to demonstrate proficiency in all of them in order to become certified
- International Association of Coaching (IAC), which offers the Master Certified Coach, Professional Certified Coach, and Associate Certified Coach certificates
After completing a master’s in life coaching degree, you will be able to obtain certification through both organizations. Mainly, the degree program will teach you how to manage a variety of different life problems, such as finances, behaviors, relationships, and bereavement. Obtaining a master’s degree greatly increases your career prospects. More and more, the profession is being considered as a true form of counseling and most counselors need to have specific certification and licensing. If this becomes a rule, then holding a master’s degree will ensure that you can become licensed to practice as a life coach.
Online Option for Masters in Life Coaching
Liberty University
One online program that you may want to consider is the Master of Arts in Human Services Counseling – Life Coaching offered by Liberty University. Graduates are expected to have the skills required to start a career that will enable them to guide individuals in need of help, motivating them to become the best they can be by overcoming the various obstacles in their lives. Furthermore, the program teaches students how to communicate effectively with their clients and how to build proper relationships with them.
Graduates are respected for their ability to identify those people who need help, but who do not need a referral to a licensed counselor or psychologist. The degree can be completed 100% online and consists of 30 credit hours. Liberty University has been recognized numerous times for its excellence, receiving the:
- 2016 Top Online Counseling Graduate Programs award
- Best Online Programs, Master’s in Counseling 2016 award from Bestcolleges.com
- 2017 Top Online Colleges, Best Value Human Services award from the SR Education Group
The core curriculum of the degree includes:
- Introduction to Human Services Counseling
- Human Growth and Development
- Integration of Spirituality and Counseling
- Studies in Interpersonal Communication
- Multicultural Issues in Human Services
- Group Dynamics
Students must also complete the life coaching cognate, which includes:
- Introduction to Life Coaching
- Advanced Life Coaching Skills
- Health and Wellness Coaching
- Marriage Coaching
- Financial Life Coaching
- Leadership Professional Life Coaching
Some of the potential careers for graduates are:
- Life Coach
- Job Coach
- Business Consultant
- Educational Instructional Coach
- Non-Licensed Counselor
Summary
Clearly, obtaining a masters in life coaching degree is a great way to not just advance your personal career, but in fact, an entire profession. You will have the opportunity to work in a variety of different fields, focusing on empowering people to become the best they can be. This leads to tremendous job satisfaction and personal pride.
References
- Life Coach Salary. (2017, Jul. 25). Retrieved from http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Life_Coach/Hourly_Rate
- Master of Arts in Human Services Counseling – Life Coaching. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.liberty.edu/online/masters/human-services/life-coaching/
- International Coach Federation (ICF). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.coachfederation.org/
- Expanding the Path to Coaching Mastery Through the International Association of Coaching. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://certifiedcoach.org/
