As a career, coaching has an astounding number of opportunities for people who dedicatedly explore the field. In the world of coaching, the International Coaching Federation (ICF) is the benchmark for qualitative coaching standards. ICF is the globally recognized organization that is dedicated to providing independent certification, crafting a global network of trained coaching professionals, and advancing the coaching profession standards. Approved Coaching Specific Training Hours (ACSTH) accreditation is for third-party training providers whose training program is accredited by the International Coach Federation.
In a nutshell, you can say that ACSTH isn’t a certification program for individual coaches. ACSTH accredited programs are “al la carte” coach training programs that may or may not offer start to finish coach training programs.
What are the features of an ACSTH course?
Savvy coaches rightfully know about the fact that they need training that has ICF coaching certification or ICF’s stamp of approval. Having an ICF ACSTH accreditation means that the coach training program has gone through rigorous requirements and has met and probably surpassed the benchmark for being well-equipped coaching.
An ASCTH program should have at least 30 student contact hours, and at least 80 percent of all training must be focused on ICF core competencies and should be delivered in synchronous activities. The rest 20 percent of the training can be delivered asynchronously and based on the subjects that aren’t invariably and implicitly related to the ICF core competencies. As a part of the portfolio application, there is an exam for the budding coaches. Besides, ACSTH coaching programs are required to provide a minimum of 5 observed coaching sessions. Written feedback is also mandatory for three of the five coaching sessions.
