WHAT IS A SPIRITUAL COACH AND HOW DO YOU BECOME ONE (Complete Guide)

WHAT IS A SPIRITUAL COACH & HOW DO YOU BECOME ONE  

(Complete Guide)

 

"What do you do for a living?" I'm asked at my old friend's wedding rehearsal. 

I reply that I'm a yoga teacher and life guide. 

A bit puzzled, the maid of honor across from me queries, "What is a life guide?"

I stumble a bit with my words attempting to explain how I bring the knowledge of cranial-sacral, massage, yoga, meditation, chi kung and Andean Shamanism into my client sessions with the intent of transformation.

Due to me offering a vague title for what I do and being unclear in my explanation, the maid of honor offers an awkward "huh" then ushers the conversation onto the weather. 

After dozens and dozens, and dozens of puzzled looks and "huh's," I knew I needed to clarify my work if I wanted to create a business with my offerings.

There needed to be a cohesion with how I describe my work as well as how I deliver it in session.

I searched and searched to find the support I needed to overcome this obstacle. 

Then I found spiritual coaching. This became the glue to my practice.

I could bring all of my life experience and training into one session with the structure and frameworks that coaching offered. My sessions went from long and directionless to succinct, clear and evolutionary. 

And, when describing what I do, spiritual life coaching was easy to understand by each person who asked.

This clarity was the momentum I needed for my practice to take shape and take off!

My intention for this blog is to help you understand what spiritual coaching is, to help you decide if this is for you and to give you clarity on how to become a spiritual coach.  

 So, here we go!

 

 

A SPIRITUAL COACH (SC) IS ...

someone who guides their clients through a transformative process that helps them move from a limited way of seeing themselves and life into an expanded awareness and perspective where anything is possible including seeing their own innate value and amazingness.

As a spiritual coach (SC), you will use your personal experience and training to ask constructive questions and share deep insights that support your clients in finding their own unique path through the twists and turns of life while maintaining trust and a conscious connection with the inner Self.

Whatever style you use, you are not giving advice, but guiding your client back to their infinite potential and capability. You are returning them to their inner empowerment.

 

 

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A SPIRITUAL COACH & A LIFE COACH?

First, a spiritual coach is a form of life coaching. Often when you begin your coaching business, many suggest that you find your niche (your specific area of expertise). 

Spiritual coaching is one niche of life coaching. 

A majority of life coaches support their clients in realizing their outer goals and dreams. A spiritual coach may support a client in doing this, but does not stop there. There is a clear intention to support a client in prioritizing one’s inner goals (ie. peace, confidence, clarity, etc.) while moving towards one’s outer goals (ie. improving a career, finances, relationship, health, etc.)

 

 

 

SPIRITUAL COACHING CAN SUPPORT ...

any client who is willing to take responsibility for their life, face their limiting belief systems, address the energetic blocks that keep them from moving forward and is interested in having a deeper connection to themselves, their inner child, the ego and Consciousness.

 

 

THE TRAINING YOU NEED TO BECOME A SPIRITUAL COACH ...

will depend on what skills you need to learn in order to feel confident in yourself and the mastery of your abilities to offer the space for lasting transformation in your clients. 

Often your training will be multifaceted with in-depth study of modalities you intend to offer in your work (ie. shamanism, reiki, NLP, etc.). As well, it is most often encouraged to go through a life coach training program that will support you in attaining the skills you need to become a masterful coach.

An interesting statistic is that 95% of coach practitioners have received at least 60 hours of coach-specific training.

 

Some of the Skills you will need to become a masterful Spiritual Coach are:

1. Setting clear intentions for you and your client

2. Asking constructive/transformational questions

3. Love Based Listening 

4. Loving non-attachment to the results

5. Ability to encourage and guide clients into personal responsibility

6. Positively acknowledging your client effectively

7. When to be in silence

8. Working through Projections

9. Coaching Sequencing

10. Self-coaching guidance

11. Meditation guidance

12. Ability to facilitate creative solutions for your clients

13. Knowing how to facilitate transformational coaching sessions

14. Knowing how to help your clients increase their self-care

15. Confidence in yourself and your clients 

      

 

 

DO YOU NEED TO BE ACCREDITED BY A FEDERATION IN ORDER TO BECOME A SPIRITUAL COACH?

In short, the answer is no as of the date of this article in the US, Canada, Australia, Europe and most countries. There is not a law that requires you to have a specific accreditation to be a coach.

Many coaches are accredited under organizations like ICF, EMCC, CCE & IAC. This often gives a new coach a sense of security and accomplishment that they are recognized as a coach by an accreditation.

However, this does not guarantee that you have the skills or confidence you need to be a masterful coach. Nor does the accreditation give you a leg up in creating a more successful practice. At best, an accreditation gives you a small step towards credibility. 

In truth, most clients have no idea about accreditations, nor do many care. What they care about is your connection with them and your ability to get them results. 

This is counter to much of what you will read out there. But if you look a little deeper, you will find that those who are suggesting you get accredited have some vested interest in you getting accredited. 

One litmus test you can do is ask 10 life coaches who are practicing in your field or a similar field how often they get asked by their potential clients if they are accredited. I personally have been in spiritual coaching for over 15 years and training coaches for over 5 years and have never been asked by a potential client if I am accredited.

 

The reasons to become certified through an accreditation:

• You have a recognized organization acknowledging you’re a coach

• As a new coach, having the extra certification can boost your confidence

• You have a logo that can be published on your website

• The courses you choose to take have to meet a baseline standard slated by the federation 

 

The reasons why certifying with an external organization may not be for you:

• Most clients do not care about your certification, they care about their connection to you and the results they can get in session with you

• You’re not limited to taking the programs that are credentialed under a federation

• It is not necessary or required by law to be certified by a governing body in order to coach

• Your abilities are not based on a piece of paper, they’re based on you, your training and being a living example of your work

• If you feel the value of the organization does not warrant the application fee and yearly dues.

 

Personal Share:  I’ve studied with a spiritual-meditation master for the past 18 years. He doesn’t have any diplomas on the wall nor has he attended any level of higher education. Yet, he’s in a state of consciousness and has a mastery to support others in their awakening far greater than any university trained therapist or ICF certified coach. 

As well, I trained with a family of high Shaman in the Andes of Peru for a decade. They, too, do not have any diplomas or certifications on their wall. Yet, the power that they yield for clients ... physical, mental, energetic and spiritual healing and transformation is undeniable. People travel from all over the world to work with them.

What I’m getting at is that your ability to be at the top of your field has very little to do with being acknowledged by a federation. It has to do with you, the mastery of the skills you employ, your ability to manage your business and the ever deepening of your connection to Self/Source/Consciousness.

 

 

YOU’RE MEANT TO BE A SPIRITUAL COACH IF...

you know in your heart that getting the house, the new car, the new job, the million dollars in the bank or the “perfect relationship” does not give you true peace or happiness. As a SC, you know that peace and joy reside within you ... you can’t buy it or get it from someone else. 

Most people, including life coaches, are so focused on getting outer results that they forget what’s most important ... living consciously, living one’s true purpose and deep connection to the inner Self.

As a SC, you’re drawn to help people become more confident in themselves, to find & live their deeper purpose and to have a deeper connection to something greater than themselves.

 

 

 

WHO CAN I HELP WITH SPIRITUAL COACHING?

This is quite simple. You can help anyone who is willing to look at themselves and take responsibility for their life, their state of being and their beliefs.

In order for growth to happen within our clients, they need to have a willingness to change and a willingness to do the inner work.

They may not know how to change (which is why they would be coming to you), yet their willingness to look at themselves, take responsibility and make lasting change in their lives opens the door for coaching to be highly supportive for a person.

 

Pro Tip: Etch out 20 - 30 mins to dive into flushing out your ideal client. Ask yourself questions like:  

“Who is my favorite client I’ve ever worked with?” 

 “Who do I love talking to?” 

“What problems do I love helping solve with others?” 

“What help do people regularly come to me for?” 

“Do I like working with men, women or both?” 

“Is there a certain age range of people I would like to work with?” 

"Is there a specific part of my community who I would like to work with (ie. moms, young professionals, People in the medical field, yogis, etc.)

These questions are a great start to help flush out your ideal client. And,  once you know this it will be much easier to be clear on you niche.

 

 

CAN I DO HEALING IN MY COACHING SESSIONS?

Yes, you can format your sessions any way that you like. Officially, it would not be a coaching session if you only performed reiki, tarot, crystal healing, shamanic work, etc. 

Coaching itself is mastering the ability to support your client in discovering their own unique answers to the issues they are facing.

Different healing techniques can be a valuable part of your session work. And, healing or teaching in itself is not coaching.

 

 

THE INCOME OF A SPIRITUAL COACH ...

varies based on you as the coach. Any coach, acupuncturist, naturopath, chiropractor, doctor, etc. is an entrepreneur. 

As a coach you wear the hat of the coach and the hat of the CEO of your business. 

Your income will strongly depend on your ability to cultivate clients. There are many organic ways to develop your coaching clientele. The key to your income will be to consistently implement strategies that work for you drawing in your ideal clients.

There are spiritual coaches making millions of dollars and there are many who are making next to nothing in their coaching practice. As a beginning entrepreneur, your business depends on you

The most recent data suggests that the average life coaching income worldwide is $47,100. The average in Western Europe is $51,100 and in North America it's $62,500.

The total revenue for coaching in 2019 was 2.849 billion dollars. This is a 21% increase since 2015.

Years of experience continues to be the most important predictor of a coach’s income/revenue from coaching.

 

Pro Tip: Set a clear intention on the income you want to make in your SC practice. Notice if you’re resistant to declaring an income number. Whatever this block is (ie. belief that if you’re offering SC, you’re not supposed to make real money at it), this must be addressed so you can enjoy making a living aligned with your bigger purpose.

 

 

HOW QUICKLY CAN YOU BUILD A BUSINESS AS A SPIRITUAL COACH?

If you’re trying to get rich quickly, this is not the path for you. Becoming a SC is about service, presence, freedom and loving what you do while making more than enough to enjoy your life.

There is not a scheme that will work to get you rich quick in this business. In fact, based on studies from the coaching federation, they found that years of experience is the most important predictor of a coach’s income.

There isn’t a specific time frame to say “this is when you’ll make it.”

The greatest indicator of income for your practice will be connected with the size of your audience and the level of their engagement. According to Shanda Sumpter at Heartcore Business, a powerful email list starts at 5000 people. On the other hand, many coaching leaders have shared that they’ve made consistent six figure years with an engaged list of 600-1000 people.

Of course, to have success with converting your audience into paying clients you will need to know how to authentically market to your audience and how to enroll your audience into your session packages and SC programs without all the slimy marketing and selling techniques.

 

Pro Tip: Make a list of all the people you know who are in the coaching, healing, yoga & spiritual teaching field. Ask yourself how you can collaborate with your current community to support them and you in your practices. Then email or call them with a mutually beneficial proposition.

 

 

WHAT WILL YOU NEED TO BE SUCCESSFUL AS A SPIRITUAL COACH?

A few of the pieces that will support you in building out your practice are:

 Sufficient training as a coach

Business skills

Have a clear message that you stand by

A clear title for what you do

A clear explanation of what you do and what you stand for in 2 sentences that makes someone want to hear more

Authentic marketing skills

Conscious enrollment skills

Ability to be visible

A clear plan that works

Confidence 

Consistency

Perseverance

Work ethic

And at some point, you will need a support team who does the work that you don’t want to do or you’re not good at.

 

Pro tip: Hire one person immediately to your team for 1 or 2 hours a week even if you’re on a shoestring budget so you get in the habit of asking for help and delegating work that keeps you from generating content, value and income for your business.

Two great resources for inexpensive, freelance support are Upwork & Fiverr

 

 

 

HOW DO I FIND CLIENTS?

As a spiritual coach you recognize that everything is energy. If you’re out “looking for” clients, you’re in the energy of seeking as though the clients are hiding. 

Rather, you get to be the light house where you shine your light, your gifts and your offerings so that you magnetize the people to you who need your help.

One of the best ways to grow your client base is to offer your services in group settings in your local community. You may offer trainings at yoga studios, book stores, health food stores, unity churches, local networking events, etc.

As well, you can focus on growing your on-line audience through different strategies like spiritual summits, guest interviews, guest blogging, guest podcasts, Facebook groups, a YouTube Channel, SEO strategy, social media, etc. 

 

Pro tip: Choose one strategy that resonates, get the support you need to master that strategy and commit fully to that one strategy. Once you have that mastered and working for you, then employ a second strategy into your business.

 

If you need help creating a course for a group program, visit here

 

If you need help developing your email list, visit here  

 

If you need help with developing your website, marketing & blog copy visit here

 

If you need help with being confident and amazing on video, visit here    

 

If you need private-affordable business coaching, visit here

 

If you want to become a spiritual life coach, visit here

 

Bottom line, it is important that you are visible and you have a clear message so people know who you are and what you offer. The more people who you are in front of where you can share clearly who you are and what you stand for, the more likely you will draw your ideal clients to you.

In closing, once you decide that spiritual coaching is for you, then it is time to get the training you need to become a masterful coach. Once you have the training, you will need to get the support you need to develop your business.

A business and website are not going to get you clients. You will need to find a strategy to develop clients that feels good to you and works. 

Spiritual Coaching is an amazing profession that is continuing to grow with the upsides of freedom to create your own schedule and to work anywhere in the world. 

And, it is important to not sugarcoat the reality of this profession. In order to make a living doing what you love, it is going to require hard work, perseverance and a willingness to step out of your comfort zone and take risks.

If you're willing to do the inner and the outer work, this can be an amazing career path that gives so much in return. 

I'm wishing you so much ease and grace in your journey!

 

 

 

Written by: Jason Frahm

Co-founder of the Diamond Process Coach Training Program &

Soul Centered Life & Business Membership