Part I: Foundations of Coaching · 60 hours
Learn to Coach the Whole Person
A 60-hour professional foundation in the craft of coaching, built from the ground up for the coach who wants to meet the whole person with skill instead of guesswork.
Every coach eventually meets the same truth.
The client knows exactly what to do. They have said it out loud. They have written it down. They have the plan, the calendar, the accountability partner, and they still do not move. Or they move, achieve the thing they were so sure they wanted, and feel strangely hollow on the other side of it.
Goals and strengths are not enough. People are whole human beings, with histories, patterns, contradictions, and a hunger for meaning that no checklist reaches. Foundations is built for the coach who wants to meet that whole person with craft.
Most Coach Training Gives You Scripts. This Gives You a Craft.
There is no shortage of programs that hand you a model, a worksheet, and a certificate. You finish, you feel a little more confident, and then a real client says something real, and the model does not cover it.
Foundations is different by design. Across 60 hours you build the professional architecture of coaching from the ground up, not as a collection of tricks, but as a single, coherent way of being with another person.
What You Build, Across Six Modules
01
The Container
Define what coaching is and is not, design a relationship the client can trust completely, and build agreements that make deep work safe. The relationship itself is your first and most powerful intervention.
02
The Stance
Work from the conviction that your client is already creative, resourceful, and whole, and discover what your job actually is once you stop trying to fix people.
03
The Conversation
Listen at a depth most people never experience. Ask the kind of question that reorganizes how someone sees their own life. Use silence as an instrument instead of an accident.
04
The Structure
Turn insight into action that survives the drive home: goals that actually move, and accountability that builds autonomy instead of guilt.
05
The Toolkit
Know when to reach for cognitive tools, when to reach for strengths and flourishing, and when to recognize the deeper patterns that run the show, always as a coach, never as a therapist.
06
The Professional
Stand on ethics you trust, know exactly where coaching ends and referral begins, and build a sustainable practice you can make a life around.
What You Will Be Able to Do
- Open a coaching relationship a client trusts completely, and set agreements that make honest work possible.
- Listen beneath the words, and ask the question that reorganizes how a client sees their own situation.
- Turn insight into goals and accountability that survive the drive home.
- Recognize when something belongs to a therapist, and make that handoff cleanly and with care.
- Coach inside a clear ethical scope, and build a practice you can sustain.
Grounded in Evidence, Not Enthusiasm
This is not motivational theater. Coaching, done well, is one of the most rigorously validated growth interventions there is, with controlled-trial research showing a clear and reliable effect on how people think, behave, and perform.
Foundations is built on that evidence and on the field's most respected work, translated into something you can use on Monday morning. Every concept earns its place by answering one question: does this make you more present and more effective with a real human being?
The Boundary That Becomes Your Superpower
Here is what cheap programs never teach: the line between coaching and therapy. Foundations teaches it relentlessly, not as a limitation, but as the source of your credibility.
You learn to recognize the patterns, the meaning, even the pain a client brings, and to work with all of it inside a clear, ethical scope. You learn the precise signals that mean this belongs to a different professional, and exactly how to make that handoff with care. That confidence is felt by every client you will ever serve.
Who It Is For
- New coaches who want a real craft built from the ground up, not a folder of scripts.
- Therapists, counselors, and helping professionals adding coaching to their work.
- Anyone pursuing the Board Certified Coach credential who needs foundational coach-training hours.
- People who want method they can use with the next client, not just a certificate.
Where This Leads: A Real Credential
Foundations is 60 hours of genuine professional coach training, and it is the first step toward the Board Certified Coach (BCC) credential.
If you already hold a master's or doctoral degree in a behavioral or social science field, a therapist, counselor, social worker, or psychologist adding coaching to your practice, these 60 hours complete the coach-training requirement on their own.
If you do not hold a master's, Foundations is your foundation: completed with Part II (Positive Psychology Coaching) and Part III (Depth Psychology Coaching), the full program meets the training requirement to sit for the BCC examination, with no master's degree required.
The BCC credential also involves your own degree, documented coaching experience, and the certifying exam. The program is in the accreditation process with the Center for Credentialing & Education (CCE). We will walk you through the full pathway so you always know where you stand.
Part of the Whole Person Family
Foundations stands completely on its own. Finish it and you are a meaningfully better coach. It is also the doorway to the full Whole Person Coaching Certification.
Part I
Foundations of Coaching — the craft of coaching, how to coach.
Part II
Positive Psychology Coaching — what flourishing looks like, and how to build it.
Part III
Depth Psychology Coaching — what blocks flourishing, and how to work with it.
Learn the craft. Navigate flourishing. Integrate the whole self.
Coaches Rate Our Training Excellent
Real, verified five-star reviews from graduates of our coaching programs, independently posted and unedited.
★★★★★
“The program is a gift that keeps on giving. It helped me move past hesitation, deepen my understanding, and become more capable of coaching and leading others.”
Noé Arroyo-Williams, US
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★★★★★
“This program added real value to my existing coaching practice. It gave me more precision, more depth, more impact, and more clarity.”
Jean Hendry, US
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★★★★★
“The program was practical, well thought out, and immediately applicable. I was able to use what I learned throughout the course.”
Jay Gundotra, US
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★★★★★
“This course exceeded my expectations. I came away with a significantly larger toolkit and a much clearer sense of direction.”
Anissa Hartman, US
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★★★★★
“This program was life-changing. It significantly improved how I engage with people and facilitate meaningful, lasting change.”
Jeanne Foot, CA
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★★★★★
“My coaching toolkit greatly expanded as a result of this certificate program.”
Beth Dorman, US
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Compare Your Paths
Take one course, or the full certification. Here is what each includes, and who it suits.
| Foundations$1,495 | Positive Psychology$1,995 | Depth Psychology$1,995 | Full Certification$3,995 · best value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Course hours | 60 | 40 | 40 | 140 |
| The craft of coaching (Foundations) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Positive psychology and the Sailboat | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Depth psychology and the Oak | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| AI Daimon, through your studies | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Paycheck to Profits | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| BCC Exam Prep Course | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| AI for Coaching, 12-month program | add $995 | add $995 | add $995 | ✓ |
| Integration capstone and full BCC pathway | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Ideal for | New to coaching | Adding the science of flourishing | Experienced coaches going deeper | Anyone serious about the BCC credential |
Your Enrollment Includes the AI Daimon
Every enrollment comes with the AI Daimon, the always-on reflective mentor trained on the same body of knowledge the founder brings to private clients. Ask it a foundational coaching question, work through a tricky scope-of-practice call, or prepare for the BCC exam, day or night, for the duration of your studies.
Used transparently and within ICF Standard 2.5. The AI Daimon supports your learning and never replaces professional judgment.
Enroll in Foundations of Coaching
Regular price $2,495
$1,495
Introductory price · one-time · 60 hours, fully on-demand
Enroll Now
Backed by a 100% money-back guarantee within 7 days of purchase. A monthly payment plan is available at checkout. Every hour counts toward the full Whole Person Coaching Certification.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this live or on-demand?
Foundations is fully on-demand and self-paced. You start as soon as you enroll and move at your own pace, with instructor-reviewed reflections along the way.
Do I need prior coaching experience?
No. Foundations starts at the true fundamentals and builds the craft from the ground up. It is designed so a motivated newcomer becomes a capable, ethical, whole-person coach.
How long does it take?
It is structured in 10-hour modules across 60 hours. Many learners complete Foundations in a few weeks; you set the pace.
Does this count toward the BCC credential?
Yes. Foundations is 60 hours of coach-specific training toward the Board Certified Coach pathway. With a qualifying master's it can complete the coach-training requirement on its own; without one, it combines with Parts II and III to meet the full training requirement. The program is in the accreditation process with the CCE.
Is there a payment plan?
Yes. A monthly payment plan is offered in addition to the one-time tuition. You will see the options at checkout.
What is your refund policy?
Foundations is backed by a 100% money-back guarantee within a 7-day window from the date of purchase. After that, enrollment is final. See our Refund & Cancellation Policies.
Is this therapy training?
No. This is coaching, taught with a relentless coaching-to-therapy boundary. You learn to recognize patterns, meaning, and depth material and work with them as a coach, with clear referral signals for anything that belongs to a licensed clinician.
Come Learn to Coach the Whole Person
That threshold is real. Your clients will keep arriving at it, knowing what to do, not yet ready to move. The only question is whether you will have the craft to help them through.
Foundations of Coaching is Part One of the Whole Person Coaching Certification, an independent program of the Positive Psychology Institute, a division of Unbound Education, Inc. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Center for Credentialing & Education (CCE) or the International Coaching Federation (ICF). The Board Certified Coach (BCC) credential requires at least a bachelor's degree, coach-specific training, documented experience, and passing the BCC examination. This is a coaching education program, not therapy or clinical training.