About the Certification
The Coach Approach in Healthcare certification is earned through Dive Into a Coach Approach® (DICA), a triple-accredited micro-credentialing program designed exclusively for healthcare and helping professionals. Accredited by:
- the International Coaching Federation (ICF) for CCEs
- the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) for CEUs
- and the National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching (NBHWC) for CUs
The certification equips you with practical coaching skills you can integrate immediately into your clinical, leadership, and organizational roles. The flexible learning journey includes self-paced modules, live sessions, and applied practice. Graduates earn a digital certification badge that reflects program completion and applied coaching skill, with no ongoing renewal or re-certification required.
Micro-credentialing means earning focused, stackable certifications one at a time, rather than committing to a full credentialing pathway upfront. The Coach Approach in Healthcare certification is built this way: you build specialized coaching skills to apply in healthcare, one level at a time, totaling 50 ICF-accredited hours.
| Level | Hours |
|---|---|
| Level 1: Core Fundamentals | 12 hours |
| Level 1: Coaching Tools for Healthcare Bundle | 8 hours |
| Level 2 | 20 hours |
| Level 3 | 10 hours |
| Full Journey | 50 hours |
The certification is also approved by AOTA, and Level 1 (20 hours) is approved by NBHWC, making it ideal for healthcare professionals looking to integrate coaching into clinical care, leadership, or specialized practice areas.
The Coach Approach in Healthcare certification, earned through Dive Into a Coach Approach® (DICA), is designed specifically for healthcare and helping professionals, not adapted from a generic coaching program. Unlike most certifications that require full commitment to 60+ hours from the start, DICA uses a micro-credentialing model: you begin with Level 1: Core Fundamentals (12 hours) and choose if and when to continue with Coaching Tools for Healthcare (8 hours). Here’s what sets this micro-credentialing program apart:
- Healthcare-specific: Integrates evidence-based Coach Approach skills directly with clinical and leadership expertise
- Flexible entry: Level 1 starts with 12 hours of Core Fundamentals (self-paced); you can complete the Coaching Tools for Healthcare component (8 hours) later
- Led by a Master Certified Coach (MCC), the highest ICF credential, and a 2023 ICF Emerging Coach Educator of the Year
- Triple-accredited: ICF (CCE), AOTA (CEU), and NBHWC (CU)
- No annual renewal fees or ongoing CEU requirements for your Coach Approach in Healthcare certification
- Optional Grad Membership for community, continued access to content, mentoring, and professional development
- Part of a growing ecosystem of accredited coaching courses, specialty tools, webinars, and demo-based learning modules
Getting Started
All participants begin with Level 1: Core Fundamentals. This is the required starting point for the Coach Approach in Healthcare certification, whether you plan to complete just Level 1 or continue through all levels.
Level 1 is a 20-hour course delivered in two parts: Core Fundamentals (12 hours, self-paced) and Coaching Tools for Healthcare (8 hours). It lays the foundation for applying a Coach Approach in healthcare.
If you are not yet ready to commit to all 20 hours, you can start with Module 1, a 1.5-hour introduction available at diveintoacoachapproach.com. It gives you a feel for the methodology before stepping into Level 1.
Yes! You can enroll one level at a time or commit to the full journey upfront. Enrolling in the full journey offers cost savings and structured progress, while starting with Level 1 allows you to try it out before advancing further.
Credentials and Recognition
Once you complete the 50-hour training pathway, you’ll receive the Coach Approach in Healthcare certification badge: a digital micro-credential recognizing your coaching skills in healthcare. This badge can be displayed in your email signature, website, or resume.
The DICA certification journey is triple-accredited by the International Coaching Federation (ICF), the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), and the National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching (NBHWC, Level 1 only). Here is the breakdown by level:
| Level | ICF | AOTA | NBHWC |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1: Core Fundamentals (12 hrs) | 12 CCE (10 CC, 2 RD) | Provider #2409 | ID# 9768 (1.2 CEU) | CEA-000340-1 (11 CE) |
| Level 1: Coaching Tools for Healthcare Bundle (8 hrs) | 8 CCE (7 CC, 1 RD) | Provider #2409 | ID# 9768 (0.8 CEU) | CEA-000341-1 (8 CE) |
| Level 2 (20 hrs) | 20 CCE (18 CC, 2 RD) | Provider #2409 | ID# 7377 (2.0 CEU) | Not approved |
| Level 3 (10 hrs) | 4 hrs Coaching Education + Mentor Coaching (6 hrs: 5 Group, 1 Individual) | Provider #2409 | ID# 2409 (1.0 CEU) | Not approved |
| Full Journey (50 hrs) | 40 CCE + 4 hrs Coaching Education + 6 hrs Mentor Coaching | 5.0 CEU total | 19 CE total (Level 1 only) |
ICF CC = Coaching Competencies. ICF RD = Resource Development. AOTA CEU = Continuing Education Units. NBHWC CE = Continuing Education hours.
Completing Level 1 alone does not earn you the Coach Approach in Healthcare certification badge. The badge is awarded only after you complete the full 50-hour pathway: Level 1 (20 hours) + Level 2 (20 hours) + Level 3 (10 hours).
After the full pathway, you can:
- Indicate on your CV that you hold the Coach Approach in Healthcare certification
- Display the digital badge in your email signature
- Add the badge to your LinkedIn profile and company website
The certification itself does not add post-nominal letters to your name. The badge sits alongside your existing professional designations (OT, RN, MD, and so on). If you go on to pursue an ICF coaching credential separately (ACC, PCC, or MCC), that has its own letters which you would add after your name once earned.
You can. Level 4: ICF Readiness & Mentorship is the bridge from your Coach Approach in Healthcare certification to an ICF Associate Certified Coach (ACC) credential.
Level 4 is a personalized mentorship program. We assess where you are and tailor the pathway to your specific needs. You submit one of your real coaching recordings for evaluation by a certified coach supervisor and complete 1:1 mentorship sessions that count toward the ICF mentorship hours requirement.
The full ACC pathway also requires logged coaching practice hours (an ICF minimum). Where you start on that count varies based on your existing coaching work: some grads already have 60+ hours from their practice, others are starting closer to zero.
Once all ACC requirements are met (training, mentor coaching, performance evaluation, exam, and practice hours), you can add “ACC” after your name. Learn more about Level 4 at functionfirstcoaching.com/dica-4.
What You Can Do With It
No, the full certification is optional. Some learners stop at Level 1 and apply what they have learned in their existing clinical or leadership work. Level 1 gives you the DICA 4-step framework, the ten evidence-based coaching techniques, and a Level 1 micro-credential recognized by ICF, AOTA, and NBHWC.
Those who continue through Levels 2 and 3 build their coaching skills through supervised practice (Level 2) and mentored implementation with real clients (Level 3). The full pathway awards you the Coach Approach in Healthcare certification badge and opens the door to an ICF ACC credential through Level 4.
Graduates of the full pathway describe shifts in their own words. Two from the DICA 3 cohort:
“It’s not an add — it’s a reorg. In 15 minutes, you’ve got what took an hour before.”
— Jacob Pruden, Kinesiologist
“Some of my colleagues have credited my coaching sessions with them moving up in the company or being eligible for stretch assignments.”
— Amber Midena, OT
The right stopping point depends on your goals: Level 1 if you want to enrich your existing clinical work, the full pathway if you want a recognized coaching credential alongside your healthcare practice.
No. Coaching is forward-focused, collaborative, and strengths-based, helping clients explore goals and take action. Therapy, by contrast, addresses mental health concerns or supports clinical rehabilitation goals through treatment. Many healthcare professionals integrate both, using coaching skills alongside their clinical practice.
Coaching is currently an unregulated profession. Technically, anyone can call themselves a coach. The honest question is whether you have the depth of training to do it well and without harm.
Here is the position we hold at Function First Coaching Inc.:
- Level 1: Core Fundamentals (12 hours, self-paced) builds awareness of the Coach Approach model and framework. You are learning the model, not yet practicing as a coach.
- Level 1: Coaching Tools for Healthcare Bundle (8 hours) builds the practical toolkit. You learn to apply coaching tools and craft your own for your practice.
- Level 2 (20 hours) is where you put coaching muscles to work with peer practice and competency feedback.
- Level 3 (10 hours) is where you put it all together: you are matched with a real client for 6 extended coaching sessions.
- After the full 50-hour Coach Approach in Healthcare certification, you have a defensible foundation to call yourself a coach in healthcare contexts.
Calling yourself a coach after 12 hours of training wouldn’t yet reflect the depth of competency your clients/patients deserve, or that you deserve to feel confident in. The certification journey is designed to build genuine competency, not just awareness.
For those pursuing a recognized credential after completing the certification, Level 4: ICF Readiness & Mentorship (see Q8) bridges to the ICF Associate Certified Coach designation.
Yes, with important context. Coaching is currently an unregulated profession. The answer depends on your professional designation, where you practice, and how you structure your services.
Common pathways for our graduates:
- Within your regulated clinical practice: licensed healthcare professionals (OT, PT, nurses, mental health professionals, SLPs) may use existing billing codes related to return to work, wellness, or cognitive strategies when applying coaching principles within their scope.
- In private practice: offer coaching as a separate, non-clinical service with your own rates.
- In leadership, education, or organizational roles: use coaching in team development, mentoring, or strategic initiatives.
A practical note for US practitioners: when coaching skills are applied within your regulated clinical scope, billing under your existing professional codes (insurance-billable) typically yields higher reimbursement than out-of-pocket coaching rates.
A note for licensed health professionals in the US: even if you offer coaching as a separate service outside your professional license, courts evaluate what you actually did, not what you called yourself. Your licensed standard of care may follow you into the coaching context. Barbara Zabawa covers this in detail in her article “The Dual-Role Dilemma: How Licensed Health Professionals Can Safely Wear Two Hats” (wellnesslaw.com).
The Coach Approach in Healthcare certification includes the Coaching Spectrum Framework™ to help you identify when and how to apply informal, laser-focused, or formal coaching, so you can align your use of coaching with your goals, role, and professional context.
Career Impact
The shift happens in three layers, and graduates describe each one in their own words.
You stop being the captain and become the co-captain. You stop being the fixer and become the environmentalist of the conversation.
“You can’t want it more than them. How do you sit as that co-captain and be along for their ride, instead of where you think that ride should go? Because we know that’s where success happens. It’s not about me.”
— Amy Youngman, Child Care Coordinator
Your conversations shift. You stop suggesting, prescribing, advising. You start asking, summing up, holding space.
“Before coaching training, I was probably at 90% of the talking.”
— Susan Petroski-Randolph, OT
“What changed was not the time. I turned from being someone who was suggesting things to someone who was just questioning and questioning, and giving them powerful questions, and letting them sit on it.”
— Sandra Elizabeth, Massage Therapist
A framework that’s yours. A different relationship with the people you serve. Less of the cognitive load that builds into burnout. One graduate, just 12 hours into Level 1, called the methodology a “burnout crusher.” Sandra puts it this way: “I tell people all the time, that’s my tip, that’s my payment.”
The question is not whether the certification will impact your career. It will. The question is whether you keep working from the captain’s seat for another five years, or take the first step toward the co-captain’s seat with Level 1.
Ready to begin?
Start with Module 1 to explore the methodology, or sign up for Level 1: Core Fundamentals.