FAQ’s & Technical Support Guidelines
Simple steps to optimize your experience!Coaching Frequently Asked Questions
There are many life coaching schools to choose from. IWA was founded to take life coaching to the next level. Our coaching programs were designed to increase the life coaching toolbox to effect lasting change for coaching clients. IWA accomplishes this through an expanded model of coaching and diverse range of healing modalities. See our ABOUT page for more information.
IWA teaches the powerful foundational skills of being a life coach, including core competencies and fundamentals of life coaching. We then integrate powerful tools and techniques based on over 20 different healing modalities in order to help coaching clients identify and remove negative emotions, limiting beliefs, resolve core issues, and help coaching clients to achieve lasting change.
There is no legal governing body for life coaches. It is an unregulated industry. The most important thing is that no matter who you choose to study with, to make sure that you will be able to get liability insurance as a coach and that their certification will be recognized by insurance companies. Our certification is insurable. There is more information about that on our website under the resources section.
There are a few companies who have branded themselves as recognizing or accreditation boards for Life Coaches, one of the more well known ones is ICF. We are not an ICF accredited curriculum. The reason for this is because in order to be an ICF sanctioned school we would need to follow their pre-determined coach curriculum, which does not include emotional process and release techniques, does not deal with resolving core issues, or work from an integrative model.
IWA or any school associated with ICF would be required to focus only on their life coaching model and need to bypass the integrative model of Mental, Emotional, Spiritual, and Physical. IWA developed the combination of integrative life coaching and wellness coaching as a certified modality and covers much more content then just ICF content or other life coaching courses.
The beauty of IWA is that we’re able to teach not only coaching, and forwarding the action, creating plans and asking powerful questions, we’re also teaching you how to go into the roots, core issues of the ‘problems’, belief systems, fears, habits, traumas and stories. This is all the stuff that creates how we see the world, and make changes at a fundamental, core level of our self, so that when we do take action, it’s from a new place, where we do make a change in our life because we shifted a piece of our core.
That core issue training is not something that at this time the ICF has approved as being appropriate for coaches. And so when you do a program like the ACTP, you don’t get access to releasing negative emotions or getting rid limiting beliefs or even addressing some of those core pieces that make up who we are. So what we do differently at the IWA is we take that integrative approach. Not only are we doing outside in, so some of that coaching work, but we’re also doing inside out. We’re going to talk about how you see the world, perspective, helping clients get clarity and doing something with that clarity.
The other reason we’re not accredited is because if we were under the ICF or the like the BCC’s regulated curriculum, we wouldn’t be able to make changes to our curriculum as we saw fit. And the beauty of standing alone is that we get to keep up with what’s effective, the current research and what works. Our program is research driven, we use effective tools, we use things that we have utilized in our own work with Rachel, myself, our other trainers and with our own clients over the years. We’ve done studies and been able to see what tools and techniques are most effective. Because of that, we’re able to make changes and updates and move a little faster when it comes to implementing those changes into both our curriculum, our textbook and with our students and at our training.
When we have something new that we know is effective and it works, and we’ve taught it, we get to update the online course, textbook and take it to the next training to give it to you, and that’s one of the beauties of the IWA. We can move really fast to keep up with the latest developments and needs within the industry of coaching. We want to make sure that as the coach and as an IWA coach, you always have available to you the best that we can give.
IWA trains both students new to life coaching, as well as, master coaches and existing coaches who want to take their practice to the next level. Our student body ranges in age, ethnicity, and socio-economic background. We are a diverse and inclusive company and this is reflected in our student body.
Our students also range in both educational background and life experience. We have graduates who came to train with us who were new college graduates, seasoned professionals shifting their practice in mental health, education or medicine as well as other types of coaches who wanted to expand their tools and abilities to help their clients in new ways by adding the Integrative Life Coach Certification to their practice.
Life coaches help people change their lives for the better. They work similar to a therapist, but deal with the present and future of your client as opposed to the client’s past. Goal attainment and coaching go hand in hand. The aim of helping clients determine and achieve personal goals. Life coaches select from among several methods to help clients set and reach goals. Coaching is not targeted at psychological illness and coaches are neither therapists nor consultants. Psychological intervention and business analysis are outside the scope of their tasking.
Life coaching has its roots in executive coaching, which itself drew on techniques developed in management consulting and leadership training. Life coaching also draws inspiration from disciplines including sociology, psychology, positive adult development, career counseling, mentoring and other types of counseling. The coach may apply mentoring, values assessment, behavior modification, behavior modeling, goal-setting and other techniques in helping their clients. Scientific research has shown it to be effective for people who are ready to take personal responsibility and want to achieve big goals and reach their full potential. Coaches focus on habit change, personal development, relationships, careers, business and more.
Integrative life coaching merges traditional life coaching with many other healing modalities to order to help clients from outside and inside. They use inside-out coaching to help clients overcome core issues and outside-in coaching to help clients develop new strategies, behavior modification, and provide support. Integrative life coaches also help clients achieve balance in all of the major areas of their lives. They coach clients towards balance in all four aspects of self—mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual.
Integrative life coaches use their vast training in life coaching fundamentals and range of healing modalities. They act as guides versus advice givers. IWA teaches coaches do not tell our clients what to do or what to change. IWA coaches are taught to help their clients become empowered with tools, resources and techniques that will allow them to overcome limiting beliefs, negative patterns and habits that are not effective in order to make lasting positive changes through effective actions.
Our life coaching programs are comprehensive, which means you can choose to specialize in any niche of your choosing as life coach, health coach, wellness coach, mindfulness coach, relationship coach, or career coach. You may also choose to integrate various specialties into a more integrative practice.
As an Integrative Life Coach you can choose to open a private coaching practice, work in corporate wellness, get a job working within another integrative health care professionals practice or lead life coaching groups.
Many of our coaches’ niche to maximize their impact, assistance and revenue within the market. Examples: corporate coaching, health & wellness coaching, men’s leadership coaching, foundational coaching for teens and parenting support life coaching group practices. We go into developing a niche within the course based on both income potential and purpose.
IWA does not dispense medical or legal advice, treatment, or diagnosis. The sessions, products and information here are for educational purposes and are in no way a substitution for licensed medical or legal advice. Please consult with your physician for proper care and supervision.
IWA was started in 2010 as a brick and mortar location in Los Angeles, CA. After a few years, IWA closed the Los Angeles school in order to make the courses more cost effective and accessible to students internationally.
Life Coaching is currently one of the fastest growing businesses in the U.S. IWA is one of the only life coaching academies teaching integrative life coaching programs that include the Holistic Life Model and Inside-Out & Outside-In Coaching Model. As an Integrative Life Coach you can choose to open a private coaching practice, work in corporate wellness, get a job working within another integrative health care professionals practice or lead life coaching groups.
Corporate wellness is one of the fastest growing industries with projected growth through 2020. As a Professional or Master Integrative Life Coach you are able to coach within this market as well.
There are many unique benefits to training with IWA. Read more information in the ABOUT section.
We don’t have a coach directory, but if you email us we can recommend some great coaches.
A few of the benefits of the IWA include being able to get liability insurance. We did feel that that was important. That, you, as an Integrative Life Coach have access to liability insurance, and we have that available to you. Go to ‘Become a Coach’ page and scroll down to Student Resources, you’ll see there that we are insured through Lockton Insurance, and there’s a link on that site for you to have access to really inexpensive liability insurance on an annual basis. It is something that we recommend and it does keep you protected, your business protected, and most importantly, keeps your client protected (we speak more on this in the business section of our course).
It is important for us to inform you that there is no legal, official governing or regulating body for coaches and it is not necessary to be a part of any of the ones that have introduced themselves within the market. The field will not be a regulated field such as therapists or physical modalities such as massage therapists who require a state license and are regulated by state governing bodies.
As for our graduates, many of our coaches are coaching full time. The average income for our coaches’ year one varies greatly. As with any business that you own or when you work for yourself a huge part is how much time you invest into building your practice and the individuals effectiveness in reaching and signing on new clients. In our course (both online and in person) we teach an entire section on business. This goes over how to start, form and build your coaching practice. We give simple yet effective steps to take to become a successful coach.
To read some of our graduates’ testimonials visit our SUCCESS STORY page.
It is our goal to teach students what they need in order to create a successful business as soon as they complete our training and certification process. We have an entire business section within the program, however these are foundational elements and it is not a full business school training.
One of the business tools we provide is a 12-week group program called Transform that our head trainer created that also can be a powerful tool to launching your business as a coach.
The basic idea behind that is starting the group program using the Transform curriculum. This allows you to create a group (either in person or via a group online conference) where you will take participants through the 12-week program and then we teach you how to transition them to individual coaching clients. This is a no cost simple way to begin your practice as a coach and is one example of one of the tools taught in the business section.
The course is for anyone who wants to get the training to become an Integrative Life Coach and there is also a section which teaches the business of coaching in private practice. Our coaches work in a range of fields with this certification. We see it applied to everything from independent coaching practices to HR to working inside of organizations as well as wining other established wellness practices. The certification is insurable and legally recognized nationally. You are able to practice anywhere in the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, Asia, Africa, and South America.
If you want to develop a successful career helping others, the IWA courses are for you no matter what your education level and background may be.
We teach a section on business within the course and it includes how to start your practice as a coach. We offer a program outline to assist you in starting a group coaching program and the steps to then up level those participants into your coaching program. We also offer a referral network for our students to refer each other. IWA however does not provide any job placement.
To become certified in Emotional Clearing Method (ECM), register for our IWLC In-Person or Online Course. The training and certification for ECM is included within the IWLC trainings.
IWA has developed the IWLC Course for anyone interested in becoming a life coach, existing life coaches who want to expand their coaching toolbox, or any other practitioner who wants to add life coaching to the services they offer. IWLC course is also designed for other practitioners and coaches who want to take their coaching practice to the next level.
The MPILC course is designed for certified IWLC coaching who want to gain a master level knowledge base, additional advanced tools & techniques and certification.
There is no “one size fits all” solution to all of your clients’ issues. We all have a unique journey; however, there are powerful tools and techniques that IWA teaches that draw from over 20 different healing modalities to resolve issues, remove blocks, and create the life your clients want.
These tools and techniques have worked for thousands of people to improve and transform their lives. These can be customized to fit any person, in any situation, during any season of their life and you can help your clients create lasting change by using these.
In addition to the core competencies and fundamentals of life coaching you will learn coaching within the Holistic Life Model and Inside-Out & Outside-In Coaching Model.
The benefit of our web-based program is that anyone can participate, no matter where they reside. We have coaches who trained while living in countries other than the U.S. In fact, IWA has students around the world!
IWA and its instructors do not regulate, oversee, or have a financial relationship with IWA certified coaches. IWA Integrative Life Coaching Academy is an educational program. IWA certification signifies coaches have fulfilled the basic requirements of the IWA courses.
Upon certification, you are certified forever, there is no annual renewal for your certification.
Ethics and professional responsibility education are included in IWA programs. While IWA hopes that all IWA certified coaches will conduct themselves at the highest level of professional coaching and ethical standards, IWA cannot be held responsible for the conduct of individual coaches.
IWA was founded in 2010 and has certified thousands of students through our online and in-person life coach trainings.
Yes! We train and certify coaches throughout the US and Internationally. You may practice coaching in any state or any country that you desire. Many life coaches establish online private practices and coach from a distance to clients globally. You will need to consult your state or country specific legal bodies to ensure that you follow local legal rules.
Absolutely not! The IWLC training fully prepares you to become a successful integrative life coach. The MPILC trainings are for those who want to deepen and expand personally and professionally to gain a master level knowledge base, additional advanced tools & techniques and certification.
We have four aspects of self and each of these areas effect the others and are all interconnected. Those four areas are mental, emotional, physical & spiritual. In order to be balanced and experience well-being we need to have wellness in all four areas.
Mental System
The Mental System is your thought life, including your self-perception and thought patterns as well as our beliefs and conscious perceptions. This is also the way we view other things out in the world.
Emotional System
The Emotional System are your feelings and your emotions. It’s also your relationships with other people and also the relationship you have with yourself.
Physical System
The Physical System is your physical health, as well as the tangible physical things you have in our life.
Spiritual System
The Spiritual System is our true-self, our personal development, connection to community, world and our connection to a higher power, whatever that definition is or is not for you.
The Inside-Out and Outside-In Coaching Model is an integrative model that calls for treatment both from the outside moving inward (behavior modification & effective strategies) at the same time as providing treatment for the inside moving outward (overcoming core issues, limiting beliefs & negative patterns/habits).
Course Frequently Asked Questions
You must REGISTER for courses in the IWA store. Select your desired course, register, and checkout.
You will first need to REGISTER for the course in the IWA store. You will be auto enrolled in online course. Go to “My Courses” in the top right to access your course.
All IWA in-person trainings and online courses include life coach certifications. Students receive a printed coach certification and digital Certified Integrative Life Coach seal upon successful completion of the certification at no additional charge.
The online course is self-directed and you may start at anytime. It is a self-study course that provides the flexibility to learn on your own time.=
IWLC and MPILC Online Courses are both 6-Month Online Certification Programs.
We understand that life happens. If you need a time extension for any reason, simply email IWA requesting an extension with your new expected date of completion. There is no additional fee for extensions.
You will never lose access to course materials. You will be able to review the course content at any time in the future because we feel this is a beneficial tool for our students!
There are no additional fees needed to become a certified life coach. Life Coach Certification is included with the cost of all IWA Coach Certification Programs. However, the IWLC textbook is not included with the online course but it is included with the in-person training. The textbook is not mandatory to purchase but it is HIGHLY recommended that you purchase it because it is a valuable tool to support your training. The textbook is available for purchase in the IWA SHOP.
Transform: a 12-week transformational program can be used for group life coaching course curriculum that many IWA Coaches use to launch their coaching practices by leading groups.
We will be happy to have one of the IWA instructors email or call you to tell you more about the course and answer any questions you may have. Use the contact form to contact the IWA Sales Team. Be sure to include your question and request for an Instructor to call you. Include your number and best time of day for them to reach you that is during the IWA business hours.
You may visit our website and learn more about the IWA Instructors HERE.
For all IWA life coaching programs you will receive a certification upon successfully completing the course.
We offer payment plans on any of the full price courses. We allow students to create a payment plan with the following guidelines:
- Payments will be auto-charged on the 15th of every month
- The payment plan must be paid in full before beginning your course
- You must CONTACT IWA to set up a payment plan
Like most schools, universities, and educational institutions, once you begin your course it is non-refundable.
To become a certified life coach through IWA, you must take the certification course online or in person, complete the assignments, pass your final exam, and submit a practicum.
Yes, you can upgrade to the in-person training at any time. This will not dis-enroll you from the online course, and you will continue to have access to the online course and materials.
Course Specific Frequently Asked Questions
Technical Frequently Asked Questions
When students experience a “lag” in the files streaming it is generally an issue with your browser, computer processing speed, video graphics card, or internet connection. Audio and video streaming are high performance computer tasks. They require a lot of RAM processing and good internet connection. Anything that inhibits this could be the issue.
Here are a few suggestions.
If you are having issues with audio or video, first check to make sure you have a strong internet connection. Also, make sure you do not have numerous applications or internet widows open. Then, empty your browser cache and refresh your browser. If this does not resolve the issue, please open the course in a different browser, log in, and try again. Browser extensions in Chrome may cause conflicts, turn off all browser extensions or try a different browser. If the video plays but very slowly or with significant time delays, check your internet connection, contact your internet provider, close all other open programs and browser windows that could drain RAM, contact a computer tech support service to check your video graphics card, or check your computer for a virus.
For best streaming audio and video viewing experience, please make sure you are using a strong internet connection, have your volume turned on and are using the most recent version of either Chrome, Firefox, or Safari browsers. If you currently use Internet Explorer and experience problems viewing the streaming video or audio, please switch to one of the preferred browsers. Cookies must be enabled to use our site. IWA does not provide technical support for student side computer issues, including computer hardware, software, web browser, internet connection, or viruses. Please contact a computer repair company if you experience computer technical issues. Contact your internet service provider for all internet connection issues.
IWA does not provide tech support for student side hardware, browser, or internet connection issues. These are the responsibility of the student.
Please use the contact form to email our support team.
Cookies must be enabled for our site to function properly.
Course handouts are stored in the cloud on a server. In each unit labeled “Handout” we have provided a text links to download the documents to your computer. When you click on the text link to download the document, it will automatically download to the downloads folder on your computer. The name of the document will match the name of the link you just clicked.
You will need to visit our online store and select the product you purchased and click Register. You will then be able to access the course content in the “my courses” link at the top of the website.
The course is completely online and provided through streaming media files accessible from most computers. This is exactly like streaming YouTube videos to your computer or mobile device. So, no extra software is required. However we do recommend, for best streaming video viewing experience, please make sure you are using a strong internet connection, have your volume turned on and are using the most recent version of either Chrome, Firefox, or Safari browsers. If you currently use Internet Explorer and experience problems viewing the streaming video or audio, please switch to one of the preferred browsers. Most of the course documents are provided as Word Documents but they may also be opened in Google Docs or alternative document editing program.
Contact your internet service provider they can run a diagnostic on your modem and system to see where the problem might be and make sure that it’s not an issue there.
There is no need for any special software. What is already on your PC, Mac, or Linux is typically sufficient. You will need a computer, web browser, and internet connection. Content is a combination of text, audio, video, and downloadable documents typically in .pdf or .doc format. You will need access to a pdf document reader and Microsoft Word or alternative word processing program.
Log into the IWA site. Go to “My Account” in the top right hand corner. You may edit your personal information there.
We strongly advise to have a broadband connection (DSL, Cable or better) with downstream speed
above 512K. If you are not sure what type of internet connection you may have, use http://www.speedtest.net to
check your download and upload speeds.
If you are not getting emails or notifications, please make sure to add info@integrativewellnessacademy.com to your address book. Also, please check your spam or junk folder as our emails may have gone there due to your email security settings.
No, the course is only accessible through website. We do not offer the course and program content as downloads.
If you have forgotten your password, click “Lost your password?” on the login page. Enter your Username or Email address and click “Reset Password”. You will receive an email link to reset your password. If you do not receive an email, please check your junk or spam folders.
Yes, you can access the course on any iPhone, iPad, Kindle Fire, or other smart device. All you need is internet connection and a web browser.
All IWA courses are both Mac and PC compatible. They are browser-based and accessible through standard internet browsers.
The site is optimized to work on current versions of Safari, Firefox, and Chrome.
IWA Support Process
We understand that it can be frustrating when software doesn’t work as expected. Requests are answered during business hours in the order which they are received. Please allow our team up to 24–36 hours to answer any questions you may have.
Before asking for support, please make sure you have gone through the steps below. We will not be able to assist until these steps have been completed:
- STEP 1. Make sure you are using the most recent browser version of either Chrome, Firefox, or Safari browsers. If you currently use Internet Explorer and experience problems viewing the streaming video or audio, please switch to one of the preferred browsers.
- STEP 2. Cookies must be enabled to use our site. Make sure cookies are enabled in your browser.
- STEP 3. For best streaming video viewing experience, please make sure you are using a strong internet connection. If you have internet connection issues, contact your internet service provider they can run a diagnostic on your modem and system to see where the problem might be and make sure that it’s not an issue there.
- STEP 4. Streaming files is a memory intensive task. If you experience a “lag” in files streaming it is generally an issue with your browser, computer processing speed, RAM working memory, or internet connection. If you experience delays in file streaming, close all other programs and browser windows. Close any necessary files and programs. Too many open files or programs running on a computer can use up RAM and slow file streaming.
- STEP 5. If you are on a PC, try running disk clean-up or defrag. Run a computer clean-up and optimization program like Norton Utilities.
- STEP 6. Out of data drivers can cause streaming file issues. Make sure your drivers are up to date.
- STEP 7. Clear your browser cache. Because cached data can sometimes confuse your browser, clearing it also solves some occasional problems, such as 502 Bad Gateway errors, slow loading, and infinite spinning cursors.
- STEP 8. Open a new browser window in private browsing mode. Try again.
- STEP 9. Before sending a support request, please reference the FAQs.
- STEP 10. Restart computer. Try again.
- STEP 11. Viruses on a computer can cause streaming file issues. If you experience significant delays, run a spyware and malware detection program especially on a Windows computer. Malware will eat up RAM and slow down file streaming. You may also need to contact a computer repair service to perform this task.
- STEP 12. If your question is not answered by the FAQs, submit a support request here. When submitting a request, please be as descriptive as possible, include browser version, OS version, and screenshots.
Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions! Email is how our support team best assists students. Someone from technical support will return your email within 24 hours, during regular business hours. Good luck on your journey and congratulations on empowering your future through our training.