26 Unique Types Of Life Coaches (You Don’t But Need) To Know

In this article, we’ll cover the different types of life coaches.

That’s especially relevant to distinguishing between the coaching business types and niches.

So, do you need to work with a life coach or a business coach to achieve your aspirations?

Well, life coaching is a rather broad term!

Let’s get started. Join me below.

What Types of Life Coaches Are There?

Generally speaking, there are three major types of life coaches:

• Those who provide one-on-one coaching,
• Those who provide group coaching,

And those who offer both.

So, what about online coaching?

You can experience the benefits of one-on-one and group coaching through online sessions, too.

Will a client prefer face-to-face or virtual space interaction? It’s a strictly personal matter of choice. 

Nowadays, many people prefer online coaching, as it offers some invaluable assets.

What about executive coaching?

Or wellness coaching?

Or relationship coaching?

All coaching niches are applicable in the online format.

Yet some specific tools and strategies are only applicable in face-to-face sessions.

Finally, what type of coaches work best for YOU?

The ones who suit YOUR unique individual preferences.

A Curated List Of The Different Types of Coaches

1. General Life Coaching

• Support and direction for non-specific (general) issues.
• Move forward toward positive growth in your life. 

2. Personal Life Coaching

• Centered around fixing particular (specific) stressors and difficulties in life.
• Great for addressing anxiety, depression, stress, and ineffective habits.

3. Business Coaching

• It helps both companies and individuals to set and achieve winning business goals.
• Wonderful for clients who wish to improve their professional status.
• Bring business expertise on another level of success and development.
• Gain invaluable knowledge and new insights on business management.

4. Small Business Coaching

• A type of business coaching that focuses on individuals rather than companies.
• Fantastic for the newbies who have launched a small business (aka budding entrepreneurs).
• Helps to build confidence in products and/or services.
• Scale-up a small business by making the best decisions.

5. Executive (Leadership) Coaching

• Focuses on senior leaders or executives of an organization
• Improve both leadership skills and personality

6. Career Coaching

• Helpful in navigating the job industry.
• A type of coaching that can work wonders for any career-related issues.

7. Financial Coaching

• Learn how to handle money wisely.
• Discover how to apply smart investment solutions (financial choices).
• Provides training on both saving and creating a budget.

8. Team Coaching

• Improve relationships among team members (including the leader).
• Understand what it takes to create and guide a GREAT team.
• FIx existing problems within a team and prevent future issues from ever happening.
• Gain better skills by detailing action steps.

9. Performance Coaching

• Recognizes and addresses the gaps in an individual’s work performance.
• It helps people realize their full potential.

10. Sales Coaching

• Assists the client to meet his sales quota.
• Valuable advice on how to maximize an employee’s potential and performance.

11. Skills Coaching

• The coach may impart his knowledge of a certain skill. Thus, he provides the client with actionable, personal experience-based guidelines.
• It helps a person to reach a new level of understanding in the will – skill niche.

12. Wellness Coaching

• It provides tools for maintaining a healthy mind, body, and soul.
• Teaches skills related to one’s overall wellbeing.
• Similar to holistic and health coaching but with a focus on wellness in general.

13. Mindfulness Coaching

• Focuses on the concept of being “here and now” (aka mindfulness).
• Works towards promoting mindful awareness and clearing off blockages.

14. Health Coaching

• Helps to deal with health-related issues (e.g. proper nutritional intake, weight management).
• It is not limited to health on the physical level but also works on the mental level (based on the client’s needs).

15. Spiritual Life Coaching

• Wonderful for people who need help to connect with their inner selves.
• This type of coach provides a holistic approach with a focus on spirituality.

16. Holistic Coaching

• Holistic coaching is among the most recent types of life coaching.
• Works to promote balance and wholeness among body, mind, and spirit.
• Similar to wellness coaching but with a deeper focus on spirituality.

17. Relationship Coaching

Wonderful for couples who seek help in overcoming communication problems.
Guides couples toward establishing and maintaining a healthy relationship.
Nurture and strengthen family bonds.

18. Dating Coaching

• Great for clients who need help to create a winning action plan for their dating life.
• Ongoing support and solutions to dating life-related mishaps and misfortunes.

19. Divorce Coaching

• A divorce coach provides continuous, gentle support through the difficult process of divorce.
• This type of coach can help clients in making the right decisions.
• Assists in dealing with, as well as decreasing pain and moving forward in life.

20. Transitional Coaching

• Transitional life coaches offer similar support to that of divorce coaches.
• Transitional life coaching focuses on dealing with big transitions in life. Think of graduation, getting over a breakup, having kids, menopause, changing careers, and more.

21. Neuro-linguistic Programming Coaching

• NLP coaches’ area of expertise is helping a client break free from limiting beliefs. It is limiting beliefs that often hinder our progress and success.

22. Personal Empowerment Coaching

• A personal empowerment coach will help you take control of your life.
• Personal empowerment is intricately related to personal development.
• Awesome for those who need help in identifying their strengths.
• Great for setting meaningful goals, and having a powerful impact on the world.

23. Confidence Coaching

• Did you know that confidence is a “soft skill”?
• This type of coach specialty is to help a client get into practicing healthy (self)-confidence.   

24. Sports Coaching

• A sports coach does NOT equal a team coach.
• A sports coach is someone who helps athletes psychologically.
• Similar to a wellness coach, a sports coach works to promote and condition a team’s body, mind, and spirit.

25. Recovery Coaching

• Recovery life coaches help individuals overcome addictions. These include alcohol (sober coaching), drugs, and other forms of codependency.
• Recovery life coaching is about ongoing help for stopping addictions.
• It is also about reducing addictive behaviors-associated harm.

Speaking of types of unique life coaches… Brain injury recovery coaching does exist, too.

26. Parenting Coaching

• A parenting coach works with proven tools and strategies to help clients become the parents they aspire to be.
• Ongoing support and guidance are also provided. The goal is to help identify and overcome challenges in raising healthy, happy kids.

Related: 10 Best Life Coach Certifications Online ICF Accredited

What Types Of Life Coaches Are Most Successful and Popular?

The most successful and sought-after coaching experts include:

• career coaches,
• relationships coaches,
• general life coaches,
• personal life coaches.

However, as with everything life coaching-related, there is a thin line you ought to be aware of…

The most popular coaches who can greatly help client X might not always be the best for client Z.

Yes, there is no fit-them-all golden standard when it comes to “the best” types of coach one should be looking for.

13 Coaching Niches + Top 9 Life Coach Skills 

We cannot possibly include all coaching niches and top coach skills. But we did our best to help you out by listing the most relevant ones.

Coaching niches

1. Creativity and Arts (e.g. dancing, writing, drawing, photography)
2. Corporate (e.g. strategic planning, team building, executive coaching)
3. Career (e.g. interview skills, career transition, job search)
4. Emotions and mindset (e.g. depression, anxiety, addiction, stress, happiness)
5. Family (e.g. adoption, parenting, alternative schooling)
6. Health and Wellness (e.g. exercise, nutrition, sports, diet)
7. Technique/ Approach (e.g. yoga, breathwork, hypnotherapy, journaling)
8. Love Life (e.g. marriage, dating, sex culture, and hygiene)
9. Life Skills (e.g. communication skills, time management, personal image, work-life balance)
10. Professional Skills (e.g. negotiations, project management, public speaking)
11. Performance (e.g. motivation, productivity)
12. Spirituality (e.g. inner peace, life purpose)
13. Small business (e.g. marketing, entrepreneurship) 

…And life coach skills:

1. Honesty
2. High emotional intelligence
3. Empathy
4. Active listener skills
5. Questioning skills
6. Constructive feedback
7. Assessment
8. Accountability
9. Reflection and clarification

How To Find A Life Coach Near Me?

If you want to work with an online life coach, finding the right one is a click away.

What about those who prefer personal, face-to-face contact?

Firstly, you can search the web for suitable candidates in your area of residence.

Additionally, you can ask friends, relatives, or online communities for references.

Also, you can join local workshops. You can meet with the selected candidates before booking a session.

IMPORTANT!
Always make sure to carefully evaluate your potential coach. This is the most crucial part of the process. So, SKIP the rush.

Tap into your intuition. Listen to your heart.

This is a sacred choice! Thus, you want to choose wisely, and to take all the time you need to do so. 

How To Become A Life Coach? 

Life coaching is a rapidly growing business industry.

Are you interested in becoming a life coach, or maybe a business coach yourself?

I am dedicated to offering help and insight to like-minded individuals eager to step into the coaching business.

For more information, I encourage you to read some of the articles on my website.

Please, note…
Obtaining the right certification will not automatically make you a great coach.

I do encourage you to join the world of certified personal coaching, (and professional coaching) experts.

However, before you enroll in a legitimate program, I would suggest that you speak with your soul.

Not everyone can become a fantastic coach.

And that’s because life coaching is not merely a way to make money. It is a MISSION.

Above all, you need to feel the calling to HELP people. This is the secret ingredient of becoming a wonderful coach.

The Bottom Line 

“Like everything in life, it is not what happens to you but how you respond to it that counts.”
~ Steve Backley, “The Champion in all of Us: 12 Rules for Success”

Did you find useful information about the types of life coaches here?

Now it’s your turn!

Join us in the comment box. I am always happy to hear back from you.

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