Lesson Structure:  Life Coaching BPS305

There are 10 lessons:

1. Introduction
   • nature of life coaching
   • cognitive behaviour therapy
   • different approaches
   • the scope of life coaching.
2. Individual Perception
   • psychology of self-perception
   • perceptual barriers
   • motivating clients to challenge their perceptions.
3. A Well Balanced Life
   • the inter-relationship between psychology and physiology
   • stress
   • the psychology of balance.
4. Coaching Processes
   • key coaching processes
   • assessment of the client’s situation
   • dealing with emotions
   • setting goals
   • replacing negative habits with positive ones
   • leadership qualities in a life coach
   • imagination and enthusiasm
   • clarifying goals
   • recognition of limitations.
5. Coaching Skills
   • understanding the communication process
   • body language
   • communication barriers
   • listening skills
   • assessing learning styles.
6. Coaching and physical well-being
   • human nutrition
   • important factors in nutrition
   • physical well-being.
7. Coaching and psychological well-being
   • the psychology of self-esteem
   • stress management programme
   • identifying stressors.
8. Coaching Success
   • high achievement
   • coaching success
   • career guidance
   • managing your money
   • beginning a business.
9. Goal Setting
   • values
   • aims and goals
   • types of goals
   • planning
   • future goals
   • steps for sucessful goal achievement
   • effort and attribution.
10. Review and Adjustment
    • indications that a programme needs to be reassessed
    • client’s lack of confidence
    • personality clash
    • over-achievers
    • health and safety issues.

Learning Goals: Life Coaching BPS305

• Define life coaching and differentiate it from other professions such as psychotherapist, counsellor, personal trainer and so on.
• Understand that people perceive the world in different ways, and identify ways to help clients change counter-productive perceptions without excessive discomfdiscomfort.
• Define a well-rounded individual and well-rounded life.
• Define different coaching skills including listening, analysing, planning and focusing.
• Identify ways in which life coaching can contribute to physical well-being.
• Identify ways in which life coaching can contribute to psychological well-being.
• Identify the areas in which successful life coaching can benefit a client.
• Understand the importance enabling clients to develop aims, plans and goals.
• Recognise the importance of reviewing and adjusting the life-coaching processes.

Practicals

• Interview a life-coach (or someone who offers life-coaching service as part of their professional counselling repertoire) for information on the nature of life-coaching.
• Identify principles that differentiate life coaching from other helping professions.
• Consider pros and cons of different approaches to life coaching.
• Do case studies to reflect on and/or observe the effects of different life-coaching
• approaches on improving a person’s quality of life.
• Design and administer a questionnaire to research some effects of negative aspects of self-perception.
• Discuss the importance of balancing a client’s limitations and encouraging to step outside their comfort zones
• Identify means of monitoring an individual’s self-perceptions.
• Examine the relationship and interaction between a person’s mental/psychological and physical health and wellbeing.
• Consider how to deal with clients with special needs such as disabilities.
• Identify the processes involved in life coaching and describe what each can contribute to a client’s personal growth and development.
• Discuss ways individuals might resist life changes and ways to facilitate change.
• Discuss the pros and cons of assertiveness training.
• Identify reasons that individuals are unable to make decisions.
• Identify different life coaching skills and when they are required.
• Explain the importance of listening to the client and how to do it.
• Consider factors that might make a life coach’s personal skill repertoire ineffectual.
• Discuss the role and risks of physical life coaching in the life-coaching process.
• Research factors that must be considered when setting out a life coaching plan to promote physical health, and psychological health.
• Identify crucial information to be included in the development of a client’s plan.
• Discuss ways to nurture a client’s goal setting, planning and self-monitoring skills .
• Research how much life-coaches use/do not use individualised client plans.
• How can the life-coach monitor the effectiveness of his/her program for a client?
• Create and evaluate an action plan for a real person/client, including monitoring.

Your learning experience with ADL will not only depend on the quality of the course, but also the quality of the person teaching it. This course is taught by Iona Lister and your course fee includes unlimited tutorial support throughout. Here are Iona’s credentials:

Iona Lister
Licentiate, Speech and Language Therapy, UK, Diploma in Advanced Counselling Skills.

Iona has been a clinician and manager of health services for fifteen years, and a trainer for UK-based medical charities, focusing on psychosocial issues, mental health disorders, and also the promotion of communication skills for people in helping roles. She tutors and facilitates groups via workshops and teleconferences, and now specialises in Sight Loss. As a freelance writer, she contributes regular feature articles for magazines, has written five published books, as well as published courses relating to personal development and counselling skills.

Iona has also written published books, courses and articles across a wide range of subjects, mostly in the areas of health, counselling, psychology, crafts and wildlife.

She has drawn experience from clinical and managerial experience within the NHS as well as medical and humanitarian subjects. She has been a regular feature writer and expert panel member of a national magazine for six years.

Books include: A Guide to Living with Alzheimer’s Disease (and associated dementias), The Psychology of Facial Disfigurement; a Guide for Health and Social Care Professionals, When a Medical Skin Condition Affects the Way you Look; A Guide to Managing Your Future, Facing Disfigurement with Confidence, Cross Stitch: A Guide to Creativity and Success for Beginners.
Courses written include: Mental Health and Social Work, Counselling Skills, Understanding and Responding to Substance Misuse, Journalling for Personal Development, Guided Imagery, Stress Management.

Current work includes: Tutor: Courses associated with Creative Writing, Counselling Skills, Psychology, Holistic Therapy, Certified Hypnotherapist and Hypnotension Practitioner.

Facilitator of Teleconference Groups: Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB)

Trainer (Skills for Seeing): Macular Society

Reviewer of Books/Information: Macmillan Cancer Support

Fundraiser: Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), Embroidery/Art Groups Facilitator, Board Member

Website Manager: The Strathcarron Project, Coordinator (Delaware & Tennessee) Human Writes

Excerpt from the Course

Personality and Heart Disease

Friedman and Rosenman (1959) identified Type A and Type B personalities. A number of studies have found a significant correlation between Type A behaviour patterns and coronary heart disease. Type A is characterised by feeling under excessive time-pressure, aggressively competitive, overly-ambitious, and easily aroused to hostility by situations perceived as being trivial to Type B personalities. Type A’s also veer towards individualism and accomplishment which tends to promote isolation rather than interpersonal connection. They have a hyperactive sympathetic nervous system and an under-active parasympathetic nervous system. There is high secretion of corticosteroids and high blood cholesterol which results in a tendency towards heart attacks. Obviously not everyone is Type A or Type B but most people tend to exhibit aspects of each.

Not all Type A behaviour may be significant in the onset of heart disease. It would seem that hostility is the most important factor.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Ulcers

Irritable bowel syndrome is a disturbance of contractions of the gut organised by the enteric nervous system (ENS). The ENS is a subdivision of the peripheral nervous system, responsible for controlling the gastrointestinal system. Stress, whose effects are mediated via the central nervous system and the autonomic nervous system is a causal factor implicated in this.

Peptic ulcers would seem to be caused by an interaction of psychological factors and bacterial infection.

Ways to Stay Healthy

By recognising stress we can avoid situations that bring it about and maximise situations that bring about the opposite response. We can unlearn behaviour that brings about a hostile response.

Also, for some disorders social isolation poses a greater risk than for those who are happily socially integrated. Defence against stress is also provided by a happy social environment. Where people have a sense of belonging, they tend to form part of a social network that is harmonious and gives them meaning in life and enables them to predict, control and cope. Goals become acceptable and attainable within a social network and the person values friendship above the acquisition of material resources (Friedman 1996).

Culture can also have a large impact. Japanese culture emphasises social interaction, inter-dependence, stability, cohesion and group values far more than Western culture. Marmot and Syme (1976) carried out a study and found that Japanese people living a traditional lifestyle, but living in California, had a five times lower rate of coronary heart disease than Californians.

Meditation has been linked to a reduction in sympathetic nervous system domination and hyper-arousal (Bracke and Thoresen, 1996). The parasympathetic contribution is simultaneously strengthened.

Owning a pet also seems to have a positive correlation with mental health. Pet owners tend to have lower blood pressure and lower levels of fatty substances in the blood compared to non pet owners (Anderson et. al., 1992). There is no difference between types of pet so walking the dog cannot explain this phenomenon.

There is some (though rather weak) evidence that thinking positively can also help cancer patients. Sustained aerobic exercise can actually help preventing heart disease and also alleviate depression and anxiety.

There are lot of alternative ways to alleviate stress. A massage once in a while is known to eliminate stress and make a person more relaxed.

Reiki is a form of healing which focuses on the sense of touch for healing purposes both physical and psychological.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Due to our years of experience and wide range of online courses, here are a list of our FAQs and Answers asked by Students.

General

Q. Do I need to buy text books?
A. No, you are not required to purchase expensive text books for any of our courses, since each module has been written by highly qualified tutors and writers, and our courses are updated on a regular basis, adding new information, methods and knowledge. You are supplied with all “essential” references. Extra books are always useful though, especially for special projects. Tutors will advise you what to buy if you decide you would like to have extra reading material, but it is not essential. Check out our eBookstore if you’re looking for a starting point.

Q. What sets the Academy apart from other institutions?
A.  A unique feature of our courses is that we combine knowledge of the subject matter with practical tasks (set tasks, found at the end of each lesson).  So you get to do practical components in each lesson. The benefits of this approach are immense: – your skills and knowledge are developed to a much higher level not normally found at other distance learning institutions.

Q. How do the practical exercises (set tasks) work?
A. The practical component of each lesson can be in the form of : Field Research, Networking and Analysis, Conducting Surveys, Growing, Collecting, Photographing and Processes.

Q. If I do a shorter course first, can I get credits towards a certificate or diploma later?
A. Yes. We will assess previous studies to give you appropriate credits.

Q. Can I pay by instalments?
A. Yes, you can view all available payment options here.

Q. Do I get a discount if two of us enrol together?
A. Yes. You may claim a 5% discount on fees if you both enrol in courses at the same time.

Q. Do I get a discount if I enrol in a second course?
A. Yes. You will be offered a 10% discount on subsequent courses you enrol for.

Q. Can I use more than one discount code when enrolling for my course?
A. No. You can only use one discount code chosen by yourself per course, when more than one is available.

Q. What happens if I have to stop studying for a while? (eg. become sick, go on holidays, have a baby)
A. It’s OK to take a break and start up your study at a later point in time. Just let us know.

Q. Is there an age limit?
A. There is no maximum age limit. We do however; have a minimum age limit of 18 years. Below that age parental consent would be required.

Q. Are there any hidden costs?
A. There are no hidden extras – the tuition fee covers all course material, unlimited tutor support, assignment marking/feedback and any text books where specified and exams. The only extras are for the public examinations fees for the ICB Bookkeeping course and the RHS (Royal Horticulture Society) exams.

Q. Are your courses up-to date?
A. Our courses are continually updated. The course content is rapidly updated and improved without the red tape and bureaucracy experienced at other educational institutions.

Q. Do you have a Cancellation policy?
A. We have a cancellation policy that is fair and equitable. For further details please click here.

Q. What Recognition do you have?
A. The Academy for Distance Learning has various forms of recognition:
These include TQUK (Training Qualifications UK) – an Ofqual Awarding Organisation – ADL is an approved TQUK Centre.
IARC – International Approval Registration Centre, approved member.  Accredited Training Provider for ICB (Institute of Certified Bookkeepers) and Approved Distance Learning Provider for the RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) and many more. Our graduates come from many parts of the world and have used our qualifications for successful employment and progression onto higher education. To view our full list  of recognition and memberships please click here,

Q. Will I have any opportunity to engage with other students?
A. We have a Student Community group based on facebook! If you don’t have a facebook account already, you could make one just for talking with fellow students on the group.

Q. Why should I enrol with the Academy for Distance Learning?
A. Here at the Academy our students are our priority – we treat every student as a unique individual. This philosophy allows us to nurture those who are “slow and steady” learners rather than letting them fall through the cracks, while catering for those who are in a hurry to complete.

Enrolment

Q. When can I enrol/start?
A. You may enrol and start at any time of the year – it’s all self- paced.

Q. Can I study from anywhere in the world?
A. Our courses are available to anyone, anywhere in the world from the comfort of your own home. The course content is relevant to any country, culture or economy.

Q. How long do I have to complete the course?
A. You complete the course at any time that is convenient for you. You’re under no pressure to finish by a certain deadline.

Q. Completing the course- how long will it take?
A. Completion of  modules varies from student to student.  Many factors come into play  such as work commitments and family life- there are always distractions.  Some students work quicker than others.  For a 100 hour module many students will take up to 3- 6 months,  others take less time and some are even longer. It’s all up to you.  There is no pressure to complete or deadline to finish. Naturally, longer courses will take more time.

Q. What learning formats are there?
A.  Your enrollment comes with the Online Classroom study option by default. For a small additional cost you also have the options of USB or Correspondence.
USB: Your course is sent to you on a USB stick, so that you can carry it in your pocket. Ideal for those with unreliable internet connections. This option is an additional £5/module

Correspondence:  You download the course content and then print your own copy to your requirements. You can then bind the lessons to suit your needs.

Assessments

Q. Assessment – how does it work?
A. For each 100 hour module you are assessed by assignments (at the end of each lesson) and a final one and a half hour exam (or you may elect to complete a project instead of sitting the exam) – the choice is yours – you sit for the exam in your own location, or you can visit us in Canterbury, England to sit the exam if want to.  Exam fees are included in the tuition fee you paid. You can read more about the examination process here. At the end of each lesson, there is an assignment. You submit it to the academy who then submits it to the tutor for marking, comments and feedback. Our policy is to have a grade for you within 5 to 7 days.

Q. If my assignment is not up to standard is there an opportunity to resubmit my work?
A. Yes – If you’re not happy with your work submitted you may re-submit the assignment again.

Q. How many assignments do I need to complete for each module?
A. At the end of each lesson, there is an assignment – so if a course has say, 10 lessons there would be 10 assignments. The number of lessons per module varies from module to module. See the course content from our website for further details.

Q. When do I have to hand in my first assignment?
A. There is no deadline for handing in the first assignment. Submit when you are ready. There are some students who hand in assignments within the first couple of weeks of enrolment – while there are others who submit their work 6 months later. It’s all at your own convenience to suit you. Everyone has different work and home commitments and we cater to these needs.

Q. I am having difficulty attending workshops/industry meetings, what can be done?
A. If your course requires attendance at workshops, conferences, or industry meetings; alternative arrangements can be made in your country; however, there may be an additional expense. We can appoint an appropriately qualified person anywhere to work through curriculum documentation supplied by us, to satisfy the requirements set down in a course.

Qualifications

Q. What qualification will I receive?
A. For individual modules, you would receive a Certificate (providing you complete all assignments and the exam). If you just want to complete the assignments only, then a Letter of Achievement would be awarded. For more details on qualifications awarded please click here.

Q. Is there a next level to progress to?
A. Yes – you can progress from one module to a combination of many modules and to higher qualifications i.e. Advanced Certificates, Diplomas and Higher Advanced Diplomas. Read more about course levels here.

Q. Can I customize my diploma/higher qualification?
A. Not all educational institution’s certificates /diplomas meet everyone’s needs. The opportunity to design your own diploma at the Academy (subject to our approval) is an added bonus, not found at other colleges. It’s a very popular option and widely used by many students. You quite simply choose the appropriate number of related modules needed to complete the qualification and submit them to us for approval as a custom diploma.

Q.  What do I get when I complete the course? Will I receive a transcript?
A. At the completion of a 100-hour Certificate course and providing all assignments and exam have been completed, you will receive a Certificate and Transcript.  The Transcript will list your GPA.  Each 100-hour module is worth 3 credit hours.

Exams

Q. Do I have to sit for an exam?
A. Exams are optional but need to be undertaken in order to receive the Certificate or higher qualification.  Exams are one and a half hours long. You appoint an adjudicator (subject to our approval) to supervise the exam. You sit for the exam in your own location. Its that simple.

Q. I don’t cope well with exams – what can I do?
A. If you feel you don’t cope well with exams you may elect to undertake a Project (set by the tutor) instead of sitting the exam.  Many students prefer this option as they find researching the material for the project sharpens their research skills.

Q. If I don’t sit for the Exam do I still get a qualification?
A. If you don’t sit for the exam but complete the project alternative, you will still receive your endorsed qualification. If you don’t sit for an exam or complete a final project, providing you have completed all the assignments you will be awarded a Certificate of Achievement.

Q. Do I have to sit for the exam at the Academy? 
A. No – whilst you are more than welcome to come to our location in Canterbury, U.K. and sit the exam in our classroom; the more popular option is to sit for the exam in your own location. You appoint an adjudicator to supervise the exam. Click here for more information on that process.

Q. Are there any exam fees?
A. There are no exam fees.  However, for some public examinations such as the ICB (Bookkeeping) and RHS courses exam fees do apply.  See course content for details.

Tutors

Q. Our tutors – who are they?
A.  We only employ tutors who have are currently active in their industry with at least 5 years of real-world experience.  Not only are they highly qualified but also experienced, knowledgeable, and professional- experts in their chosen fields from all parts of the world.

Q. Can I contact my tutor at any time?
A. Yes- you have unlimited access to tutors. We strongly encourage students to develop a dialogue with their Tutor. This is why we encourage students to submit their first assignment fairly quickly at the beginning of the course.
Every Academy student is assigned a tutor who supports you throughout your course and beyond. Your tutor is there to guide and facilitate your learning and provides as much or as little individual contact as you would like. When you submit your coursework the tutor will give you feedback that helps you develop your ideas and provides motivation. For those who do like to have interaction with other students, the ADL discussion forum connects you to students from all over the world.

Q. How do I contact my tutor?
A. You have direct contact with your tutor by email through the Online Classroom. Alternatively, you can write, fax, email, or phone the academy. Leave a message if your tutor isn’t available and they will phone, write or fax back; whatever suits you.

Q. If I don’t agree with / like my tutor can I request a change?
A. Yes – we try to accommodate and meet student’s needs and a change of tutor may be arranged.

Q. If I don’t understand a question or a lesson may I contact the tutor?
A. You may contact a tutor as often as you like. There is no additional charge or restriction on this service.  Contact can be made via the Student Zone, email, or by phone.

Q. Practical work – How is this done?
A. To find out more about this part of the course please visit the section on How Our Courses Work here.