Interested in pursuing a life coach certification, but not sure where to start?
Follow along as our step-by-step guide walks you through everything you need to know about how to become a certified life coach, from identifying your “why” and beyond.
Starting your career journey as a life coach? Check out these resources to get started.
• Insurance 101 for Life Coaches
• How to Start a Life Coaching Business in 10 Steps
• 11 Essential Skills Every Life Coach Needs to Thrive (& How to Master Them)
• How Much Do Life Coaches Make? Breaking Down Salaries & Earning Potential
• Risks & Liabilities: What to Expect When Becoming a Life Coach
What Is a Certified Life Coach?
A certified life coach is a professional who has undergone formal training and passed an exam that demonstrates their skills in a specific coaching style or niche. Not all life coaches hold certifications. It’s not a requirement to enter this profession, and many life coaches have successful careers without taking any courses.
However, many pursue certification to enhance their skills and boost their credibility to attract clients. Getting your certification to be a life coach may also help you feel more confident and prepared to handle the challenges that come with helping clients achieve their goals.
The Path to Becoming a Certified Life Coach
If you’ve decided to pursue certification, congrats! Whether you’re starting your career or bolstering your existing credentials, getting certified can be a highly rewarding educational experience.
There are many types of certification programs available, which can make this journey feel daunting at first. Below, we’ve mapped out a step-by-step guide to getting certified regardless of which program you choose to navigate this path confidently.
Step 1: Define Your Goals
First, explore your reasons for pursuing certification. This could include one (or all) of the following:
- Learn new valuable skills for your coaching career
- Gain a competitive edge over other non-certified coaches in your area
- Hone your existing skills or stay up-to-date with new coaching techniques
- Build confidence in your coaching abilities
Use these goals as a guide on your certification journey. Since certification costs time and money, the program you commit to aligns with what you’re hoping to get out of it.
Along with these goals, determine your emotional “why” for getting certified. Do you want to get certified so you can offer better guidance for your clients and coach them more effectively? Will certification help you acquire new skills your clients will benefit from?
Factoring in your emotional reasons helps keep you grounded through the challenges to come, from balancing coursework with your daily life to saving money for your dream program.
Step 2: Consider Your Specialty
Once you’ve decided to get certified, factor in your life coaching niche. While some certification programs cater to a wide variety of life coaches, others are geared towards particular types.
For example, The Institute for Life Coach Training offers niche certifications in health, executive, and career coaching. On the other hand, Coach Training Alliance has a certification program that most life coaches can benefit from, regardless of their focus.
If you’ve been in the industry for a bit, you likely already have a specialty you focus on, such as career coaching or personal development coaching. But if you’re just getting started, picking your niche is an essential part of becoming a life coach.
Identifying what you want to specialize in will help you attract clients who are the best possible fit for your business, meaning they will benefit the most from your coaching.
Step 3: Determine Your Budget
Getting your life coach certification is an investment, so you must budget for the course you want to take.
Figure out what you’re comfortable spending before you start looking into programs. This helps you decide whether to narrow down your options based on price or decide to wait and save to afford the course of your dreams.
Certification courses can cost anywhere from several hundred to several thousand dollars, depending on factors like:
- The length of the program
- Whether the program is accredited or not
- How well-established or reputable the program is
- Whether the course is in-person, online, or hybrid
Money isn’t the only thing you need to budget, though — time is another crucial consideration.
Some certification programs are more intensive than others, requiring a full-time commitment over several weeks. Others (especially remote courses) are self-guided, meaning you can spread out your training over an allotted period of time to better suit your schedule.
Pro Tip: Some certification courses offer financial aid options, like scholarships. Additionally, the International Coaching Foundation (ICF) provides scholarships for coaches to use towards an accredited program of their choice.
Step 4: Choose a Training Program
Apart from considering your life coaching specialty when choosing a program, you will also face a decision between accredited and non-accredited programs:
- Accredited program: One that has been given formal approval by a third-party evaluator, such as the ICF, following a rigorous assessment of ethics and curriculum quality
- Non-accredited program: One that has not gotten approval from a third-party evaluator
Accredited programs are often more widely respected in the industry, but that doesn’t necessarily make them the best fit for you. They tend to be more expensive than non-accredited options, and a non-accredited program might suit your needs better.
The best program for you should:
- Meet your individual learning and professional goals
- Be within your budget (either with or without financial aid)
- Leave room for your other responsibilities (job, childcare, etc.)
For more information on how to pick the right certification program for your needs, check out our guide to the five best life coach programs in 2025!
Step 5: Complete Your Training Hours and Get Certified
Once you’re in your chosen program, it’s time to complete your coursework leading up to certification. While every program is different, this typically includes:
- Classes: These could be online, in person, or hybrid. For online classes, they may be pre-recorded sessions you can watch at your own pace, or live sessions.
- Practice coaching: Many programs have practice sessions where students work with each other in role-play coach-client scenarios. This is part of building confidence and applying what you’ve learned in a safe, simulated environment.
- Mentorships: It’s common for life coach certification programs to include working with a mentor. This is typically a coach with years of experience who can give you expert guidance as you grow and learn on your certification journey.
- Required hours: Programs typically mandate a certain number of classroom/study hours before you can obtain your certification. You may be asked to track and log your hours.
Afterwards, it’s time for the grand finale: getting certified! Some programs require you to take and pass an exam before you earn your certification, while others only require you to apply after completing your coursework.
Step 6: Protect Your Career With Insurance
You might be wondering what getting life coach insurance has to do with earning your certification — fair question!
While getting certified isn’t for every life coach, getting insured is. Whether you’ve taken a course to prove your skills or not, all life coaches face liability risks that come with the territory of working with clients, such as:
- Getting sued by a client who claims your advice led them to make life choices that resulted in a financial loss
- Accidentally sharing confidential client information during a public workshop and getting sued
- A client tripping over an extension cord in your office and suing you after they injure themselves in the fall
Without insurance, you could be forced to cover the expenses related to these claims out of pocket. Unlike getting certified, that’s not good for business.
With life coach insurance from Insurance Canopy, you can shield your career against financially draining accidents like these for as low as $21.08 per month. Plus, it takes less time to get insured than it does to complete your certification course — just 10 minutes or less!
Learn more about life coach insurance today and discover what getting covered can do for your business.
FAQs About Life Coach Certification
Do you need to be a certified life coach to get insured?
No, certification is not a requirement for coverage. Insurance Canopy covers certified and non-certified life coaches.
What’s the average salary of a certified life coach?
The average certified life coach in the U.S. makes over $102,000 per year, or about $49 an hour. However, the majority make between roughly $88,000 and $111,000.
How long does life coach certification last, and will I need to renew mine?
Not all certifications expire, but some do — especially accredited certifications. For example, ICF-accredited certifications need to be renewed every three years. Confirm with your program if you need to be recertified and how long your certification lasts.
