The Best Youth Life Coach Certification Programs

Last updated on July 30, 2024

Are you passionate about guiding and inspiring the youth to achieve their full potential? Whether you’re venturing into a new career or looking to enhance your coaching abilities in this specialized field, youth life coach certification programs offer the training and credentials to guide you on this fulfilling path. 

Since life coaching programs are numerous, we’ll help you narrow down your best choice by exploring the top youth life coach certification programs. Find out what it takes to become a certified youth life coach and how to pick the ideal certification route.

• Coacharya – Best for ICF Accreditation
• The CASE Institute – Best for Dual Certification
• Youth Coaching Institute – Best for Professional Development
• World Coach Institute – Best for Youth, Parent, and Family Coaching Niche
• The Scholars Academy – Best for Teenage Life Coaching Niche
• Transformation Academy – Best Budget Option

What Is Youth Life Coaching?

Youth life coaching is a specialized form of life coaching focused on helping young individuals navigate challenges, improve emotional well-being, set and achieve goals, and develop essential life skills to enhance their personal and academic growth. Coaches who decide to pursue this niche usually work with clients aged 11-25, but they can specialize in narrower age groups, such as teenagers or college-aged youth. 

Youth life coaches support and motivate young people to make positive choices, build resilience, and reach their full potential during this critical phase of development. As a youth life coach, your responsibilities might include:

• Teaching youth essential life skills, such as time management, organization, communication, decision-making, and problem-solving
• Collaborating with your young clients to set meaningful and attainable goals for personal, academic, and social development
• Assisting students in improving study habits, test-taking strategies, and academic performance
• Providing guidance and strategies to manage stress, anxiety, peer pressure, and emotional challenges
• Helping young clients explore potential career paths, plan for the future, and make informed decisions about education and vocational paths
• Assisting clients in nurturing healthy relationships, establishing effective communication, and honing conflict-resolution skills
• Empowering young individuals to build self-esteem, confidence, and resilience as they transition into adulthood

How To Become a Life Coach for Youth

Whether you’re already a life coach or you aspire to become one, the best way to establish your expertise as a life coach for youth is through youth life coaching certification programs. 

In the coaching industry, there is no prerequisite for becoming a coach, so certification isn’t mandatory—but it does offer an advantage. Navigating this competitive industry without certification can be challenging, given that 81.3% of coaches are certified.

In addition, certification enhances your coaching skills, deepens your knowledge of youth coaching techniques, and builds trust with both young clients and their parents.

Factors to Consider When Choosing a Youth Life Coach Training Program

Selecting the right training program is a pivotal step toward success. There’s a myriad of options available, each with its unique features and approaches. To ensure you make an informed decision and align your training with your goals, it’s essential to consider key factors like cost, duration, and accreditation.

Program Cost

The financial investment required for the training program can significantly narrow down your choices. If you have a specific budget in mind, this can instantly eliminate some options. While some programs are budget-friendly, others may come with a higher price tag. Obtaining youth life coach certification online offers more possibilities and gives you a chance to get certified for a reasonable price.

Course Length

If you’re already an established life coach with a queue of clients, or your schedule is packed with responsibilities, the duration of the course will greatly impact your decision. Youth coaching programs can be self-paced or live. If you have limited availability for scheduled classes, self-paced programs emerge as a more flexible and accommodating option.

Accreditation

Accreditation is a matter of choice for coaches who want to enhance their credibility and reputation. Among accrediting bodies, the International Coach Federation (ICF) holds the most widespread recognition. For coaches aiming to obtain an ICF credential but interested in a youth life coaching program that lacks ICF accreditation, there’s a solution. You can choose to create a customized curriculum that combines your chosen niche program with additional training from an ICF-accredited course. Our preferred choice for a life coaching course that’s ICF accredited is Coach Training Alliance, and we’ve covered everything you want to know about them in this review. 

Best Youth Life Coach Certification Programs

ICF-Accredited Option: Coacharya

Coacharya is ICF-accredited, and you can earn 30 ICF training hours through their youth coaching program. If you’re working toward an ICF certificate, this can be the ideal choice.

This program offers in-depth training in coaching adolescents and young adults aged 13 to 25. It focuses on building confidence, addressing self-limiting beliefs, and helping young individuals overcome personal obstacles for greater self-awareness and self-assurance. You’ll also get access to youth coaching activities, tools, examples, and best practices for coaching young people.

• Course Length: 30 hours
• Program Cost: $1,449
• Accreditation: ICF
• Mode of Delivery: Online

Dual Certification Option: The CASE Institute

The CASE Institute offers a youth life coaching program that helps you become a Certified Youth Life Coach™ and a Certified Positive Parenting Coach™, which enables you to coach both youth and their parents. This dual certification program is designed to train you to work effectively with pre-adolescent and adolescent youth.

It equips you with tools and exercises to help young people transition into successful adulthood by boosting their motivation, confidence, and overall potential. The program also covers essential coaching skills, strategies, and topics related to youth and parenting. 

• Course Length: 10 weeks
• Program Cost: $1,897
• Accreditation: IPHM
• Mode of Delivery: Online

Professional Development Option: Youth Coaching Institute

Youth Coaching Institute’s Coaching Adolescents program is for certified coaches who want to specialize in coaching tweens, teens, and young adults, with a strong emphasis on supporting at-risk youth. It covers evidence-based practices and strategies, with the goal of building resilience and motivating positive personal growth. 

You will gain insights into the biopsychosocial aspects of adolescent development and learn methods to support clients in optimizing their resources, personal development, and social skills, and navigating structural challenges. 

• Course Length: Self-paced (9 weeks)
• Program Cost: $350
• Accreditation: ICF
• Mode of Delivery: Online

Youth, Parent, and Family Coaching Niche Option: World Coach Institute (WCI)

The Certified Youth, Parent, & Family Coach (CYPFC) program from World Coach Institute will train you to help clients tackle challenges in youth, parenting, and family matters. They provide both online and teleclass options, so you can choose the method of study that suits you best. 

This comprehensive course covers topics such as youth, parent, and family coaching, personal foundation development, foundational coaching skills, business setup, and marketing strategies, while also providing a wide range of useful coaching and client tools. Upon graduation, you’ll receive a Certified Youth, Parent & Family Coach (CYPFC) and Certified Professional Coach (CPC) certifications. 

• Course Length: Self-paced (2-8 weeks) or 8 weeks of teleclass
• Program Cost: Available upon request
• Accreditation: ICF
• Mode of Delivery: Online

Teenage Life Coaching Niche Option: The Life Scholars Academy

The Teen Life Coaching Training Program™ by The Life Scholars Academy is for coaches who want to narrow down their focus to working with teens. The program is taught by Dr. RJ Jackson, the best-known teen coach in the U.S. 

What makes this program stand out is that it is exclusively dedicated to certifying life coaches for teenagers, and it is the only life coaching certification program delivered 1-on-1. It also provides you with real-world coaching experience, as you’ll have a chance to coach actual teenage clients during the learning process.

• Course Length: Available upon request
• Program Cost: Available upon request
• Accreditation: None
• Mode of Delivery: Online

Budget Option: Transformation Academy

Transformation Academy has an incredible variety of niche certification programs. Even though they don’t have a youth life coaching program, per se, their super affordable courses can be a great choice if you want to acquire relevant skills and tools for effectively coaching youth.

Some of the certification programs that can enhance your youth life coaching capabilities are Confidence and a Growth Mindset Coach, Transformation Life Coach, Career Coach, and Happiness Life Coach. For more details about Transformation Academy and its offerings, head to our TA review.

• Course Length: Self-paced
• Program Cost: $197
• Accreditation: CPD
• Mode of Delivery: Online

Special Offer: Get 50% off all certification programs at Transformation Academy by clicking our link or entering code LIFECOACHMAG at checkout.

FAQs

• How much does a youth life coach make?

According to ZipRecruiter, the average hourly pay for a youth life coach is $19.31/hour in the US. 

• Do you need a certification to be a youth life coach?

Certification isn’t a requirement, but it can validate your qualifications and professional standing in the youth life coaching arena.

• How much does a youth life coach certification cost?

On average, youth life coaching certifications come at a price of around $1,000.

• Does accreditation matter in a youth life coach certification program?

Whether you pursue accreditation is a question of personal preference and whether this is a priority for you or not. The value of accreditation is that it stands as a symbol of excellence and professionalism and demonstrates your commitment to upholding high standards and ethics. 

• What is the most recognized coaching certification? 

If you’re aiming for recognition, prioritize programs affiliated with reputable accrediting bodies like ICF. Accreditation is more likely to ensure broader recognition as most people are familiar with well-known accrediting organizations, whereas keeping up with all the existing and emerging certifications can be challenging.

Conclusion

The youth life coaching profession asks for resilience and confidence in your abilities, as working with young people can come with a lot of challenges. That’s where these certification programs step in, as they’ll prepare you for addressing every coaching obstacle with proven techniques and strategies. Ongoing education is crucial in the ever-evolving coaching industry, so if you want to work on your life coaching skills or a specific area within youth life coaching, programs such as Coach Training Alliance and Transformation Academy can make you an expert in any of your chosen fields.

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