Creating Awareness is the eighth ICF core competency and like the other competencies, ICF coaches have employed it as a foundation for their coaching career.

For Christian Coaches or those of you interested in Christian coaching as a niche, let us look at what the leading credentialing agency in the field of professional coaching has to say about creating awareness in faith-based coaching.

Who is The CCNI?

The Christian Coaches Network International (CCNI) is the leading credentialing body and member organization in the field of Christian coaching. It was founded by Judy Santos, a Master Certified Coach in 1998 to empower, equip and connect Christian coaches. Its mission is to provide ongoing education, community, and resources to Christian coaches around the world. CCNI has adopted the ICF definition of professional coaching and ethical standards. And as a result, they continue to strive to recognize and promote faith-based coach training programs built on the solid concepts of the coaching and ethical standards of the profession. CCNI has also adopted the ICF Code of Ethics, at this time, as a model of professional conduct.

The key difference between CCNI’s credentials and that of ICF or other secular coaching credentials is that they integrate their faith into the coaching process. Christian coaches provide coaching services from a Christ-centered perspective and so you will see most of the clients that they serve are Christians. According to CCNI, their ethical conduct as Christians is measured by an additional standard. They are duty-bound to live the tenets of their faith and are willing to coach individuals who respect their Christian approach to coaching.

What Does The ICF Say About Competency No. Eight

Creating Awareness is the ability to integrate and accurately evaluate multiple sources of information and to make interpretations that help the client to gain awareness and thereby achieve agreed-upon results.
1. Goes beyond what is said in assessing the client’s concerns, not getting hooked by the client’s description.

2. Invokes inquiry for greater understanding, awareness, and clarity.

3. Identifies for the client his/her underlying concerns, typical and fixed ways of perceiving himself/herself and the world; differences between the facts and the interpretation; and disparities between thoughts, feelings, and actions.

4. Helps clients to discover for themselves the new thoughts, beliefs, perceptions, emotions, moods, etc. that strengthen their ability to act and achieve what is important to them.

5. Communicates broader perspectives to clients and inspires commitment to shift their viewpoints and find new possibilities for action.

6. It helps clients to see the different, interrelated factors that affect them and their behaviors (e.g., thoughts, emotions, body, and background).

7. Expresses insights to clients in useful and meaningful ways for the client.

8. Identifies key strengths vs. major areas for learning and growth, and what is most important to address during coaching.

9. Asks the client to distinguish between trivial and significant issues, situational vs. recurring behaviors when detecting a separation between what is being stated and what is being done.

Creating Awareness in Christian Coaching: What Does CCNI Say?

The ability for a person to change is limited in the absence of new awareness or paradigm. The famous adage by Mark Twain, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got,” reflect the limits of our human capacity to break familiar cycles of thinking or doing.

The effectiveness of the coaching partnership is augmented by the coach’s ability to help the client reach a renewed awareness. With new awareness comes the potential for lasting change. In creating an opportunity for new awareness and therefore possible lasting change, the coach allows space for God’s revelation of His plans and nature within the context of the coaching partnership. As a part of integrating and interpreting sources, the coach also helps the client watch for hidden or inward thoughts that God is bringing to their awareness. Together coach and client identify perspectives, attitudes, emotions, beliefs, values or life actions that may be incongruent or in contrast with the client’s perception of God’s direction or will in their lives.

Final Thoughts….

Regardless of your coaching niche, to be effective in the coaching relationship, you must ensure that your efforts in the coaching process work towards creating awareness that translates into actionable goals and the desired outcome for your clients.

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“Margaret K. Olubiyi
Life Coach
Writer, Coaches Training Blog community”