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Why Include the BALM in Coach Training?

BALM | April 26, 2021
The BALM logo that leads from information to transformation to support

Thinking of Life Coach Training in the BALM Training Institute? Here are some answers to some of the questions we have heard from past applicants about the value of including the BALM (Be A Loving Mirror) Method in one’s life coach training. If you still have questions after reading this FAQ, give Admissions a call at 1-888-998-2256 ext 5 or click on this form and we will give you a call. If you already know you want to apply, click here to set up an admissions interview.

Thousands of Recovery Coaches have been trained around the world, with more being trained everyday. These coaches, also known as recovery support specialists, peer specialists, or peer coaches, are often people in recovery with a real heart for the work they are doing. They offer vital support for people both in and out of treatment, using a variety of models they have learned to support recovery. And yet, they often lack two components in their training that could greatly increase the positive impact of their work on clients.

One is  ICF Life Coaching Accreditation, the highest level of certification available to coaches, which greatly deepens and professionalizes one’s potential scope of service.  The other is having a comprehensive curriculum to share with those in recovery and their families. Both of these aspects, ICF Accreditation and a comprehensive curriculum to teach to clients, are included in the BALM Family Recovery Life Coach Training Program.

How does the BALM relate to Coach Training?

The first Component of the Coach Training Program focuses on experiencing the family curriculum from the inside out,  studying the back end of that curriculum as a professional and then becoming certified to facilitate the BALM 12 Principles. Want to learn more? Keep reading.

Every coach trainee prepares for their work in the BALM Training Institute with a study of the Information section of the BALM program: the 12 Principles of the Be A Loving Mirror method. These principles, which every BALM family studies in the BALM Comprehensive Family Program as well, provide the foundation to understanding the loving path known as Be A Loving Mirror. Divided into three categories, the BALM Principles open the door to a full understanding of addiction/use disorders, recovery, and family recovery. An understanding of the field is critical for coaches who will be working with families and loved ones and the 12 Principles is where it all begins. Information is a good start, but not enough.

The second section of the BALM Method for families is that of transformation and is embodied in the 7 Steps to Be A Loving Mirror. In this powerful 8 week class, families and coaches learn how to Be the Peace They Wish to See in the World. This inner work of the first 3 steps includes mindfulness, objective observation of the struggling loved one and inner emotional awareness. Inner transformation is the work of a lifetime, yet in this course, coaches and families get a powerful start that lays the foundation for a lifetime of peaceful relationships with loved ones. The last four steps of the seven are all about learning to communicate with your loved one (or any other challenging person in your life) in a way that opens the door to potential change on their part. We like to say it gives you a way to inoffensively vent while also sharing important information about their behavior in a way that makes it easier for them to hear it.

As the building blocks of the BALM these 12 principles and 7 steps are critical to our coaches. Again and again new coach trainees come in planning to learn whatever they can to help others and before they know it they are reporting the big impact that learning and practicing the BALM is having on themselves and their families!

Many coaches retake these two courses many times over during the course of their year in coach training and find themselves practicing their coaching on BALM families who they are assigned to take through the 7 Steps. Plus they can use these hours toward certification, so it is a win-win for them and their intern clients.

As they are studying the BALM, coach trainees study the BALM as professionals in their 12 week Component One Gathering Course. In this course, a BALM expert meets with the coach trainees for an hour a week, explaining the why and wherefore of each of the Principles and Steps. This gives a birdseye view the entire family program along with tips on how to most effectively engage families so they will make the most of their participation in the program.

Is that all?

Of course, there is so much more to the BALM for coach trainees to explore! While the 12 Principles, 7 Steps course and Component Gatherings are required, trainees can often be found attending Coaching Groups, Journaling Workshops, and other offerings of the BALM Institute, and grads often take the opportunity to intern in many courses for families upon graduation.

Once certified and experienced as coaches, they can also be found teaching coach training courses, guiding the newbies along on the path to being BALM coaches and fulfilling the BALM mission of helping ALL families blaze the trail to recovery in their homes!

When potential coaches choose the BALM Training Institute, they are choosing a school with the highest standards of coach training and of recovery, a school that respects each individual’s approach to family recovery and recovery, encouraging families to become educated in the many opportunities for recovery and learning how to help families and loved ones along the recovery path as a result of their coach training and their own inner work to Be A Loving Mirror.

CLICK HERE to enroll in our Quick Guide to Family Recovery Life Coach Training. Receive 4 Videos and a PDF Blueprint to A Career in BALM Coaching

or call 1-888-998-2256 option 5 and an admissions representative will contact you to answer your questions and help you determine if this program is a good fit for you!