What Is the Difference Between ACC and PCC Credentials?

ByCoachwhizz
Coaching-8af2f029

Are you a coach looking to earn your ICF credential and wondering what the difference between the PCC and ACC credentials is? Well, you’ve come to the right place.

In this article, we will discuss what the ICF is, ICF’s coaching credentials, and the difference between ACC and PCC credentials.

What Is the ICF?

The International Coaching Federation (ICF) is a globally recognized non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the ethical standards and principles in the coaching profession.

They hold a gold standard for coaching and create models of excellence and integrity in the coaching profession, which results in a better quality of life for coaches worldwide.

What Is an ICF Coaching Credential?

The ICF defines an ICF coaching credential as a professional certification that ensures you have met specific standards and requirements by the ICF to develop and refine your coaching abilities. The ICF coaching credential demonstrates your commitment to upholding strong principles of ethical behavior and code of conduct in coaching.

According to the 2022 Global Consumer Awareness Study, 85 out of 100 coaching clients believe it is essential for their coach to hold a certification or credential. Earning an ICF Credential gives you instant credibility and visibility with prospective clients.

ICF offers three Credentials, each with a different level of education and number of hours of coaching experience, as well as the applicant’s ability to meet the requirements of each Credential to earn it.

The ICF credentials are:

  • Associate Certified Coach (ACC)
  • Professional Certified Coach (PCC), and
  • Master Certified Coach (MCC)

What Is the Difference Between ACC and PCC Credentials?

 Level of Coaching

  • The ICF Associate Certified Coach (ACC) credential is an entry-level credential that indicates a specific level of knowledge, skill, and ability where the coach follows a solution-focused approach to understand the challenges faced by the client. It is for coaches new to the coaching field who want to start a coaching practice or improve their coaching skills and for leaders/managers or professionals to learn coaching skills to develop themselves, their employees, and their teams. The ACC credential also serves as the foundation for obtaining the PCC Credential.
  • The ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC) credential is the second level of ICF Credentials that indicates the coach’s capability to coach the client and determine what is impeding their ability to find a solution on their own. At this level, the coach develops an advanced skill set, deeper presence, and listening in which the questions posed by the coach help the client gain insight at a deeper level. It is a higher level of ICF credentials than the ACC.

 

 

 Discovery Phase

  • At the ACC level, the discovery phase during the coaching process tends to focus more on solving what the client brings to the situation, as the coach focuses on coaching the “what.” In other words, the coach concentrates solely on the client’s challenges.
  • At the PCC level, the discovery phase of the coaching process is more in-depth. The coach focuses not only on the “what” but also on the “who” of the client. In other words, the coach focuses on listening to the client’s unspoken words and takes the conversation to a deeper level where the client can reflect on the barriers to overcome the challenges and utilize the strengths, values, and beliefs they have always had but were unaware of. The coach also concentrates on supporting the client in achieving the desired results by going deeper and having a more meaningful insight, knowing that the “AHA” moments can often occur after the conversation.

Requirements

  • Receiving an ACC credential requires 60+ hours of coaching education through an ICF-accredited coach training program (such as The ICF-accredited coach training programs provided at The 3D Coaching Academy by CoachWhizz) and 100+ hours of coaching experience with 8 or more clients.
  • Receiving a PCC credential requires 125+ hours of coaching education through an ICF-accredited coach training program (such as The ICF-accredited coach training programs provided at The 3D Coaching Academy and 500+ hours of coaching experience with 25 or more clients.

Conclusion

Earning an ICF Credential, whether an ACC or a PCC Credential, is a rigorous process that provides credentials holders with legitimacy and credibility. It depends on your current training and experience and how much more of each you want!

It is essential to know that while the ICF provides these credentials, the training to achieve them is not provided by the ICF.

The ICF does not offer coach training but accredits and oversees the standards of coach training programs provided by the institutes. Such as The ACSTH program (Approved Coach Specific Training Hours)/ Level 1 program and the ACTP (Accredited Coach Training Program)/ Level 2 program offered at The 3D Coaching Academy.