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Continuing Professional Development

Continuing Professional Development credits may be earned through a variety of learning modalities, all designed to expose the coach to new content in order to benefit their overall knowledge base and coaching clients. It focuses on the development of the coach’s competence with a wide range of opportunities for the support and growth of a coach’s skill set. ICF is dedicated to providing opportunities for coaches to consistently develop and grow professionally through learning and skills enhancement. 

As part of a self-regulating industry, ICF requires its credentialed coaches to continuously improve their professional skills and knowledge in order to provide the best value to their clients.  All ICF Credentials are valid for three (3) years. In order to renew a credential, an individual must participate in continuing professional development activities. At all levels, 40 Continuing Coach Education (CCE) units must be earned during each renewal cycle. Visit the Credential Renewal page for full requirement details. 

  • ACC – 40 CCEs, of which 24 are in Core Competencies (of which 3 are in Ethics and 10 through receiving Mentor Coaching), the remaining 16 may be in Core or Resource Development 
  • PCC – 40 CCEs, of which 24 are in Core Competencies (of which 3 are in Ethics), the remaining 16 may be in Core or Resource Development 
  • MCC – 40 CCEs, of which 24 are in Core Competencies (of which 3 are in Ethics), the remaining 16 may be in Core or Resource Development 

Core Competencies CCEs can be gained through learning opportunities that offer real-time interactive settings, such as education programs, learning courses and other activities that correlate to the ICF Core Competencies and have been approved by ICF for Core Competencies CCEs. 

Resource Development is any learning that falls outside of the ICF Core Competencies, but still contributes to a coach’s professional development (e.g., personal development, coaching tools or personality and productivity assessments, business building, etc.) 

Many learning activities are eligible for Continuing Coach Education (CCE) units that coaches may  apply towards the renewal of their ICF Credential.   

NOTE: Activities listed in the sections below may mention providing a count of either CCEs received or hours spent in the activity. In your renewal application, you will be asked to enter in CCE units. For renewal purposes 1 hour = 1 CCE. 

Accepted CCE Sources

  • ICF-accredited Education

    NOTE: The certificate, letter of completion, or ICF Learning Portal Transcript will include the number of hours that may be claimed.

    1. Complimentary ICF Ethics Course | View Course

    Required documentation:

    2. ICF Communities of Practice Events | View Communities of Practice Events

    Required documentation:

    3. CCE Hours Delivered by an ICF Chapter | View Chapter Events

    Required documentation:

    • Certificate issued by the Chapter including the name of the event/class, date, amount and type of CCE

    4. CCE Hours Delivered during an ICF Regional or Global Conference or Event | View ICF Events

    Required documentation:

    • Certificate or passport issued from ICF with the name of the event/conference, date, amount and type of CCE

    5. CCE Hours Delivered by an ICF-accredited Education Provider | Find Education

    Required documentation:

    • Certificate, letter or email on letterhead issued by the provider with the name of the event/class, date, amount and type of CCE.

    6. Education Hours from an ICF-accredited  Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, ACSTH, ACTP or Advanced Accredited Team Coaching (AATC) Programs | Find Education

    Required documentation:

    • Certificate, letter or email on letterhead issued by the provider with the name of the event/class, date and amount of coach-specific education hours
    • NOTE: all hours of an ICF-accredited Level 1, Level 2, Level 3,  ACSTH or ACTP program will be documented to the Core Competencies requirement. When entering the program in your application, you may document three (3) of the hours to the Ethics requirement.
  • Mentor Coaching/Supervision

    Mentor Coaching and Coaching Supervision both count as Core Competency activities. Up to 10 hours in Mentor Coaching may be used toward the required CCEs for renewal. Additionally, up to 10 hours of Coaching Supervision may be used toward the required Core Competencies CCEs. 

    The Mentor Coach must hold a Credential at or above the level of the mentee. ACC credentialed coaches must have been through at least one credential renewal cycle before they are eligible to provide mentoring. 

    1. Receiving Mentor Coaching by an ICF-credentialed coach on the ICF Core Competencies

    Required documentation

    • Mentor Coach’s name, email address, credential level, start and end date of mentoring, and total number of hours mentored
    • NOTE: For each ACC renewal cycle, 10 hours of mentor coaching must be received over a three-month time period or longer. Of those 10 hours, three must be one-on-one. The remaining seven hours may be one-on-one or in a group. 

    2. Receiving Coaching Supervision to engage in reflective dialogue and collaborative learning for the development and benefit of your coaching skills

    Required documentation:

    • Coaching Supervisor’s name, email address, start and end date of supervision, and total number of hours of supervision

    3. Serving as a Mentor Coach

    Required documentation:

    • Mentee(s) name, email address, credential level, start and end date of mentoring, and total number of hours mentored

    4. Serving as a Coach Supervisor

    Required documentation:

    • Supervisee’s name, email address, start and end date of supervision, and total number of hours of supervision
  • Self-paced Study

    Self-paced courses and other self-study activities fall in the category of Resource Development. Renewal candidates are limited to 16 CCEs of self-paced courses and other self-study.  

    1. Non coach-specific training (training outside of ICF Core Competencies that contributes to your personal or professional development as a coach)

    Required documentation:

    • Certificate, letter or email on letterhead from the provider with the name of the event/class, date and number of hours completed

    2. Publishing peer-reviewed research

    Required documentation:

    • Summary of your research and how it contributed to your development as a coach, documentation verifying the publication date, a link to the published research, the timeframe in which the research was conducted, and how many hours were spent in research

    3. Activities unrelated to the ICF Core Competencies that contribute to your personal or professional development as a coach 

    • Reading
      • Required documentation: name of book/article, timeframe of when read, how many hours spent reading, summary information of your activities and how they contributed to your development as a coach
    • Research
      • Required documentation: summary of your research and how it contributed to your development as a coach, a link to the published resources used in the research, the date it was published, the timeframe in which the research was conducted, and how many hours were spent in research
    • Other activities
      • Required documentation: summary information of your activities and how they contributed to your development as a coach, time spent

    4. Archived Learning

    Required documentation:

    • Name of the session and date completed in the self-study section of the renewal application and hours spent

    5. Education within an ICF-accredited program completed as self-study

    Required documentation:

    • Certificate, letter or email on letterhead issued by the provider with the name of the event/class, date and number of hours completed
  • Other

    1. Non ICF Accredited programs involving live, voice-to-voice interaction between instructors and students

    Required documentation:

    • Certificate, letter or email on letterhead issued by the provider with the name of the event/class, date and amount of training hours completed
      • For any hours to be counted towards Core CCE, supplemental documentation demonstrating that Core Competencies were taught and for how long must also be submitted (documentation to demonstrate the course curriculum and method of delivery, including course syllabus, summary, student or instructor’s manual, and any handouts or course materials that provide a detailed description of the curriculum) 

    2. Serving as an instructor of ICF-accredited education program

    Required documentation:

    • Signed letter on the accredited education programs letterhead from someone within the education program who is familiar with your role that states your name, your role within the education program, what education program you taught, when you taught it and how many CCEs you earned for the portion taught
    • NOTE: You can only claim the teaching of the course one time toward a renewal application. 

    3. Developing education curriculum that has been submitted to ICF and approved as a CCE, Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 or Advanced Accredited Team Coaching (AATC) program

    Required documentation:

    • Date the education program was submitted to ICF for review and copy of ICF letter with the approval details of the program) 

    4. Writing

    Required documentation:

    • Summary of your activities and how they contributed to your development as a coach, a link to where the writing can be found, the date it was published, and how many hours it took to write the article or book – research and editing hours not included. To claim as core hours, include how the writing included or revolved around the Core Competencies. 
    • NOTE: Writing for social media posts (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.), as well as blogs/vlogs, is not accepted CCEs. 

Where to Find CCEs

  • Ethics

    ICF recognizes that there are a variety of avenues to obtain the required three (3) ethics CCE units, including ICF Accredited education programs, CCE programs and ICF Chapter events.  

    As a special service, ICF and the ICF Ethics Community of Practice have developed a complimentary ethics course that, upon completion, will provide the three (3) ethics CCE units required for ICF Credential renewal. 

  • ICF Events (Chapter, Global, Education Providers)

    Events hosted by ICF Chapters, ICF Accredited program providers, and ICF Global are held throughout the year striving to inspire, educate and connect. Explore global and local events, conferences, webinars and more through the ICF Events Calendar. 

  • ICF Learning Portal

    ICF strives to provide continuing coach education that is relevant across various aspects of a coach’s practice from coach skills to business development. Access to live webinars hosted by ICF Communities of Practice are available.  In addition, archived learning is offered on the ICF Learning Portal in various contexts including OnDemand sessions and recorded in-person event sessions. 

  • Mentor Coaching

    Mentor Coaching for an ICF Credential consists of coaching and feedback in a collaborative, appreciative and dialogued process based on an observed or recorded coaching session to increase the coach’s capability in coaching, in alignment with the ICF Core Competencies. 

  • Coaching Supervision

    Coaching Supervision focuses on the development of the coach’s capacity through offering a richer and broader opportunity for support and development. Coaching Supervision creates a safe environment for the coach to share their successes and failures in becoming masterful in the way they work with their clients. 

  • ICF-accredited Education Programs

    ICF-accredited education programs have gone through a rigorous review process and demonstrated that its curriculum aligns with the ICF definition of coaching, Core Competencies and Code of Ethics. ACTP, ACSTH, Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 offerings deliver foundational coach-specific education and training. Continuing Coach Education (CCE) offerings provide advanced and supplemental learning opportunities for trained and credentialed coach practitioners.  

  • Research

    Research (including evaluation) is defined as any activity that involves the collection, collation, review or evaluation of data or information for the purpose of describing, maintaining or modifying activities, practices, interventions or treatments. Research may involve the manipulation of variables or environmental factors whereas evaluation more typically involves the review of information for the purpose of providing feedback about the function, productivity or efficacy of an activity. Evaluation includes but is not limited to needs assessment, process assessment, outcome studies, impact analysis, cost-benefit analysis and meta-analysis. 

  • Teaching

    Teaching (being an instructor) is engagement in the production and delivery of content ensuring a holistic growth path that promotes the cross-fertilization of ideas and concepts where capacity truly exists. 

  • Special Projects

    Special projects and activities approved in advance by ICF may be used towards Continuing Coach Education units.  How many CCES and what documentation is required for renewal will part of the agreement made with ICF staff when the project or activity is approved. 

More Professional Development Information

  • Submission Details

    Do not send documentation to ICF Credentials and Standards by mail or email. Only documentation that has been included with your online renewal application will be accepted. Non ICF accredited education will not be pre-approved. 

    Your renewal application is created following the awarding of your credential or it’s last renewal. You may find it at the very bottom of your profile page.  You may enter CCEs as you earn them. You may submit your renewal application up to 10 months early.    

    Following full payment and submission of your renewal application, your application will be placed in the review process. Please allow 6-8 weeks for the review of your renewal application. If the ICF Staff has a question or needs further information, you will be sent an email and the section of the application in question will be marked with a red explanation mark. 

  • Support

    If you have questions about the renewal requirements or process, please visit the Renew Credential page. 

    For general renewal and professional development questions, please visit the Credentialing FAQ page. 

    If you need support regarding Continuing Professional Development or if you do not find the answer to your question on the FAQ page, please visit the ICF Support page. 

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