STUDY PSYCHOLOGY OR LIFE COACHING?

Should you study psychology or life coaching?

If this is a question that has entered your head, it's likely you are passionate about studying human motivation.

Perhaps you'd love a career in which you get to work with other people and help them improve their lives in one or more areas?

Perhaps you dream of owning your own professional practice, being your own boss and making a real difference in the world.

Studying psychology might seem like the  obvious route to a career path that will allow you to do work that you're passionate about.

But, wait. There is an exciting alternative!

Psychology is about the scientific study of the human mind, including human thought, behaviour, development, personality, emotion, motivation, and more.

Life coaching is similar, but lays more emphasis on the application of psychology in optimising human motivation and behaviour.

We like to say that life coaches are agents of change.

They act as facilitators, using simple yet powerful tools, techniques and processes to apply their knowledge of human behaviour and motivation to help people clear self limiting obstacles and  live their best lives.

Whereas psychologists, like counsellors, tend to be more focused on alleviating behavioural, mental and/or emotional problems, life coaches are more focused on identifying and exploiting opportunities for growth and development.

For a more detailed account of what life coaching is and what life coaches do, please click here.

When you weigh up whether to study psychology or life coaching, you should be aware that becoming a life coach involves learning that is far less academic in nature and involves extensive hands-on practical application of the theory learnt.

Arguably, therefore, training to become a life coach is more life changing in its effect.

The training is also less taxing, more flexible and easily adaptable to fit in with your lifestyle.

With an institution such as New Insights you can train remotely with our acclaimed and internationally accredited Life Coach Training and Certification Programme.

This is a comprehensive, yet hyper-convenient training programme that is presented in a hybrid home study/online format giving you the best of both worlds.

This comprehensive programme requires the study of seven skills training theory modules and extensive practice coaching. It provides everything you need to qualify as a certified life coach and then sustain a successful career.

The best part is that this all costs a small fraction of the cost of a degree in psychology.

The duration of the training will depend on you. Most of our trainees, who study and practice in their own time and at their own pace, complete within a period of 9-18 months.

pre-requisite QUALIFICATIONS

It will depend on the academic institute offering the course in psychology but a common prerequsite for registration is to hold an appropriate Bachelor's Degree,  for example BA or B Soc Sci.

On the other hand, institutes offering life coaching as a course of study, such as New Insights, seldom require any evidence of prior qualifications.

New Insights recommends the importance of possessing three character attributes:

• A genuine passion for working with people
• A thoroughly ethical disposition
• An open enquiring mind

PROFESSIONAL REGISTRATION

Unlike practising psychologists, life coaches are NOT governed by statutory regulation and are therefore NOT required to be registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA).

However, although it is not a legal requirement to practice, many certified life coaches choose to enhance their networking and  ongoing professional development by joining a reputable coach representative body such as COMENSA (local) and/or the ICR (international).

Find out more about the local and international accreditations that New Insights holds.

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