ICF ACC flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

ICF definition of coaching

The International Coaching Federation defines coaching as partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.

ICF core values

Integrity, Collaboration, Respect, and Excellence. These four values are the reference points ICF uses when interpreting the Code of Ethics in situations the written standards do not directly cover.

ACC coaching experience hours

Applicants for the Associate Certified Coach credential need 100 hours of coaching experience with clients, of which at least 75 hours must be paid coaching, all logged and verifiable.

ACC mentor coaching requirement

Ten hours of mentor coaching delivered over at least three months, including a minimum of three one-to-one hours, with the remainder allowed in a group format.

Confidentiality and its limits

Coaches keep client information confidential unless the client gives permission, disclosure is legally required, or there is imminent risk of serious harm; these limits are explained before coaching starts.

Coaching versus therapy

Coaching works with the present and future toward goals and performance, while therapy treats psychological distress, diagnosis, and past trauma. Distress or trauma surfacing calls for referral.

Conflict of interest response

Disclose the potential conflict to the client or sponsor, then avoid the relationship or withdraw from it. Coaching family members, close friends, or one's own direct reports is not acceptable.

Coach Knowledge Assessment

The ICF multiple-choice, scenario-based exam testing knowledge of the core competencies and the Code of Ethics, taken after training, mentor coaching, and the performance evaluation.

Referral for scope of practice

When client needs fall outside coaching, such as legal, medical, financial, or psychological treatment, the coach names the boundary, explains why, and offers referrals instead of acting as an expert.

Agreement elements in coaching

Goals, coach and client responsibilities, what is in and out of scope, confidentiality and its limits, logistics such as fees and session duration, and how either party may end the engagement.

Session-level agreement

At the start of each session the coach confirms with the client what they want to focus on and what a successful session would look like, re-confirming if the topic changes.

Sponsor confidentiality agreement

Before coaching begins, coach, client, and any paying sponsor agree on what information will be shared with whom, so the client knows what the sponsor will hear.

Asking permission before sharing

A trust-building practice in which the coach checks with the client before offering an observation, intuition, or challenge, for example by asking whether they may share something they noticed.

Cultivates trust and safety

The competency of building a safe, supportive relationship by understanding the client's identity and context, showing respect, honoring confidentiality, and demonstrating integrity and concern for the person.

Maintains presence

The competency of being fully conscious and present with the client: flexible, grounded, comfortable with silence and strong emotion, comfortable not knowing, and able to manage one's own reactions.

Silence as a coaching tool

A deliberate pause that lets the client think and feel. The coach tolerates the silence rather than filling it, and treats what the client does during the pause as information.

Screening for coaching fit

Judging whether the client's needs fit coaching. Signs to refer elsewhere include active crisis, trauma, untreated mental health conditions, or requests for expert advice beyond the coach's competence.

Active listening

Listening that attends to the client's words, tone, emotion, energy, and body language, reflects and summarizes what is heard, and uses the client's own language rather than the coach's interpretation.

Echoing the client's words

Reflecting the client's exact words instead of substituting the coach's synonyms. It reduces interpretation, preserves the client's meaning, and signals that the coach is genuinely listening.

Purpose of summarizing

To confirm and clarify what the client has said, consolidate a theme, and let the client correct the coach's understanding, rather than to demonstrate the coach's insight or to steer.

Evocative question

A short, open, client-centered question that invites reflection, discovery, or a new perspective, such as asking what else or what that would look like, rather than gathering information for the coach.

Leading question

A question that embeds the coach's preferred answer or advice, such as asking whether the client doesn't think they should act. It steers the client and reduces ownership of the answer.

Sharing intuition with permission

The coach offers a hunch or observation without attachment to being right, ideally after asking permission, and releases it if the client does not pick it up.

Metaphor in coaching

Working with the client's images to explore meaning, for example asking what the pressure would be if it were an object. Metaphor surfaces emotion and insight that direct questions can miss.

Reframing

Offering an alternative interpretation of the client's situation so it can be seen from a new angle; the coach offers it tentatively and lets the client accept or reject it.

Client-designed action

Actions and goals come from the client rather than the coach. The coach asks what the client will do, when, and how, which preserves client autonomy and commitment to follow through.

Accountability partnering

The coach asks how the client will hold themselves accountable and what support or structures they want, then follows up on progress in later sessions without nagging or policing.

Celebrating client progress

Acknowledging the client's insights, efforts, and movement toward goals specifically and genuinely, so the client internalizes the progress rather than depending on the coach's praise.

Closing session agreement

Ending the session with a clear, client-owned next step: what the client will do, by when, and what support they need, confirmed in the client's own words.

Linking insight to action

The coach helps the client connect a new awareness to the stated goal by asking how the insight changes what the client will do next, turning learning into behavior.

Commitment confidence rating

Asking the client to rate, for example from one to ten, how likely they are to complete an action; a low score invites the client to resize the plan rather than being pushed.

Goal versus action

A coaching goal is the outcome the client wants from the engagement or session; an action is a concrete step toward it. The coach checks that actions serve the goal.