Becoming a board certified coach (BCC) opens the door to numerous psychology jobs providing coaching services to corporations, general businesses, government agencies, educational institutions, and other types of businesses. To become a certified coach, you’ll need the proper education, such as a master’s degree in industrial and organizational psychology.
One specialization for those earning an MS in Industrial and Organizational Psychology is evidence-based coaching, a career track that can have you helping to effect positive change in a broad range of organizations. Learn more about evidence-based coaching and how industrial psychologists are contributing to the success of so many organizations.
What Is Evidence-Based Coaching?
When you think of coaches, you may think of childhood little league or soccer. But adults need coaches, too—people who help them accomplish their goals, improve their performance at work or in life, and boost their overall well-being. While this is a relatively new concept, individuals and businesses have quickly come to rely on these professionals’ ability to facilitate positive and necessary changes. One kind of coaching method is called evidence-based coaching.
The work of evidence-based coaches is an extension of evidence-based psychological practice, which the American Psychological Association says is the integration of the best available research with clinical expertise in the context of patient characteristics, culture, and preferences.1 Evidence-based coaching utilizes the informed-practitioner model to help coaches better anticipate the outcomes of their interventions, making the coach more effective and contributing to the overall credibility of the coaching field.2
Coaches utilizing an evidence-based approach use empirical research based on their observations and experiences, drawing upon their knowledge of the behavioral sciences, psychology, and coaching best practices. As such, they’re able to gather evidence and offer clients more effective and accurate assessments, along with positive results. Evidence-based coaching is rooted in proven science, and professionals with the proper education, training, and certifications stand apart from those using unproven coaching approaches.
Professional coaching is a growing profession, but there are too many untrained coaches making specious claims of their results. For evidence-based coaches, getting the right training and earning an advanced college degree in industrial and organizational psychology can pay off. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), industrial and organizational psychologists earn a median annual wage of $87,100, and there will be a projected 8% change in employment by 2026.3
Get Started and Earn an Industrial and Organizational Psychology Degree
Exciting psychology careers are out there. If you want to earn your master’s in psychology and have been looking into online schools, Walden University’s MS in Industrial and Organizational Psychology program with a specialization in Evidence-Based Coaching may be just what you’ve been searching for. Walden is one of the first online universities offering an I/O psych program and offers online courses designed to prepare you for these dynamic psychology jobs.
Online schools offer the flexibility needed by busy professionals looking to further their careers. Walden’s industrial and organizational psychology program can prepare you to address the challenges of the 21st-century workplace, and help you create needed improvements in business, industry, labor, public, academic, community, and health-related organizations. With Walden’s online classes, you’ll explore a range of topics critical to effective coaching—including performance management, motivation, work attitudes, leadership, and organizational behavior and development—so you can help implement the changes needed to maximize effectiveness and increase productivity.
If you’re looking for a program that offers online classes and will prepare you to sit for the Board Certified Coach Examination, look no further than Walden.
Walden University is an accredited institution offering an MS in Industrial and Organizational Psychology program with a specialization in Evidence-Based Coaching online. Expand your career options and earn your degree using a convenient, flexible learning platform that fits your busy life.
1Source: www.apa.org/practice/resources/evidence/
2Source: http://ijebcm.brookes.ac.uk/documents/vol04issue1-paper-01.pdf
3Source: www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/psychologists.htm - tab-5
Walden University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, www.hlcommission.org.