Why Mentorship Is Core to ADHLC
Not encouragement. Calibration and Practice.
In coaching, competence is rarely questioned publicly. It is assessed quietly over time.
Clients assess whether a coach feels safe.
Referral partners assess whether a coach reduces or creates risk.
Credentialing bodies assess whether training and evaluation are real or performative.
Mentorship exists to prepare learners for that evaluation environment.
ANHCO does not position mentorship as motivation, confidence-building, or reassurance. It is positioned as professional calibration. The purpose is to align how students coach with how coaching competence is actually evaluated in real-world contexts across health, life, leadership, and behavior-change domains.
This distinction is essential. Many coaching programs provide content without calibration. ADHLC integrates both.
Learn more about our program and mentors at https://app.anhco.org/courses/advanced-dual-health-and-life-coach-certification
Mentorship Program Overview
Students enrolled in the Mentorship Pathway of ADHLC receive six structured one-to-one mentor coaching sessions, each 30 minutes in duration, delivered by credentialed instructors and mentor coaches with direct experience evaluating coaching against professional standards.
These sessions are not optional, informal, or unstructured. Each session has:
• A defined objective
• A developmental focus
• Clear evaluation criteria
• Documented feedback
• Direct linkage to course progression
Mentorship is integrated into the learning system rather than added after completion.
Mentorship Structure at a Glance
• Total sessions: 6
• Duration: 30 minutes per session
• Format: Individual one-to-one mentor coaching
• Delivery: Fully online
• Alignment: ICF mentor coaching standards and health coaching competencies
• Documentation: Maintained within the learner’s academic record
• Integration: Directly aligned with ADHLC curriculum stages
Mentorship is available for students pursuing:
• Life coaching pathways
• Health coaching pathways
• Dual health and life coaching pathways
• ICF credential pathways
• Health coach-aligned health coaching preparation
How Mentorship Aligns With Course Progression
Mentorship sessions are intentionally timed to correspond with how competence develops across the curriculum.
Students are not evaluated prematurely, and they are not allowed to progress blindly.
Mentorship aligns with:
• Foundational ethics and scope modules
• Advanced coaching framework application
• Health and wellness integration
• Trauma-aware and complexity handling
• Business and professional positioning
• Capstone-level integration
This sequencing ensures that mentorship feedback is actionable, relevant, and grounded in material students have already engaged with.
Detailed Mentorship Session Breakdown
Learn more about our program and mentors at https://app.anhco.org/courses/advanced-dual-health-and-life-coach-certification
Session 1: Professional Baseline and Scope Calibration
The first mentorship session establishes an accurate professional baseline.
The purpose of this session is not to judge or correct. It is to determine how the student currently operates as a coachand where risk or strength exists relative to professional standards.
Mentors assess:
• Understanding of coaching role and scope
• Boundary clarity between coaching and clinical domains
• Ethical awareness and consent language
• Listening quality and presence
• Questioning patterns
• Degree of coach direction versus client ownership
Students receive clear feedback on:
• What is already aligned
• What requires refinement
• Which curriculum areas should be prioritized next
This session prevents a common failure mode in coaching education: progressing confidently in the wrong direction.
Session 2: Ethics, Boundaries, and Decision Awareness
The second session focuses on ethical containment and boundary discipline, particularly as complexity increases.
Students often discover here that ethical risk does not come from bad intent, but from unclear decision-making under pressure.
Mentors evaluate:
• Responses to client emotional disclosure
• Handling of advice-seeking behavior
• Scope discipline around health, mental health, and trauma
• Clarity of session agreements
• Use of reflective versus directive techniques
Students are coached on:
• Slowing decision-making
• Naming boundaries without rigidity
• Holding space without overreaching
• Protecting both client and coach
This session is especially important for students pursuing health coaching, dual-track certification, or health coach-aligned pathways, where scope clarity is essential.
Session 3: Framework Integration and Applied Skill
The third session moves beyond isolated skills into framework integration.
Rather than evaluating whether a student can name a model, mentors assess whether frameworks are being applied intentionally and appropriately.
Mentors evaluate:
• Selection of coaching approach
• Alignment between client needs and framework choice
• Session flow and coherence
• Ability to adapt when sessions deviate from plan
• Maintenance of client autonomy
Students receive feedback on:
• Overuse or underuse of technique
• Flexibility versus rigidity
• Integration across models such as GROW, CBT-informed coaching, motivational interviewing, and trauma-aware communication
This session marks the shift from learning frameworks to thinking like a professional coach.
Session 4: Complexity, Emotion, and Multi-Population Readiness
The fourth mentorship session addresses complexity handling.
At this stage, mentors evaluate how students manage:
• Heightened emotional content
• Ambiguity and uncertainty
• Resistance and ambivalence
• Health-related conversations
• Identity transitions and stress
Mentors assess whether the student can:
• Remain steady without becoming passive
• Respond ethically without withdrawing
• Maintain boundaries under emotional pressure
• Pace sessions appropriately
This session is particularly valuable for:
• Health coaches
• Dual-track coaches
• Coaches working with burnout, chronic stress, or life transitions
• Professionals transitioning from healthcare or wellness roles
Session 5: Readiness, Positioning, and Professional Risk Review
The fifth session focuses on readiness and professional positioning.
Mentors review:
• Consistency across sessions
• Remaining ethical or scope risks
• Clarity of professional identity
• Appropriateness of niche claims
• Alignment between services offered and training completed
Students receive direct feedback on:
• Areas requiring further development
• Whether additional practice is advised
• How to position services responsibly
• How to communicate scope clearly to clients
This session helps prevent overclaiming and protects long-term credibility.
Session 6: Integration, Evaluation, and Next-Step Guidance
The final mentorship session is summative.
Rather than teaching new material, mentors evaluate:
• Overall integration of learning
• Professional steadiness
• Ethical consistency
• Decision-making clarity
• Readiness for credentialing or client work
For students pursuing ICF credentials, this session supports readiness for performance evaluation and observed coaching.
For students pursuing health coaching, this session reinforces scope discipline, referral responsibility, and ethical communication.
Students leave this session knowing:
• Where they stand
• What they are prepared to do
• What should wait
• How to continue developing responsibly
Clarity replaces uncertainty.
Who Provides Mentorship
Mentorship is delivered by credentialed professionals with experience evaluating coaching against recognized standards.
Learn more about our program and mentors at https://app.anhco.org/courses/advanced-dual-health-and-life-coach-certification
Mentor Coaches and Academic Leadership
Rebecca Ahmed
ICF-Credentialed Coach Instructor
Mentor coaching, observed evaluation, applied competency alignment
Hanna Zarour
ICF Coach Instructor
Instructional calibration, standards alignment, learner evaluation
Dr. Gina Sobrero
President and Education Director
NBHWC-certified instructor
Oversight of educational standards, health coaching alignment, mentorship integrity
Dr. Roxanne Kemp, PhD
Chief Academic Officer
Oversight of accreditation compliance, assessment methodology, and academic governance
Mentors are trained to provide standards-based feedback, not reassurance. This protects students by replacing ambiguity with truth.
Alignment With ICF and Health Coaching Pathways
Mentorship at ANHCO supports multiple professional trajectories.
For ICF-aligned learners, mentorship supports:
• ICF competency development
• Observed coaching readiness
• Ethical decision-making
• Performance evaluation preparation
For health coaching learners, mentorship reinforces:
• Health coaching scope discipline
• Non-clinical positioning
• Referral responsibility
• Ethical communication around health topics
For dual-track learners, mentorship integrates both perspectives without dilution, ensuring coherence rather than fragmentation.
Learner Support Services
Institutional reachability as a professional standard
ANHCO provides twenty-four hour academic and technical support.
Support is not routed through marketing channels. It is handled institutionally.
Support Includes
• Platform and access support
• Curriculum navigation
• Assessment clarification
• Ethical and scope questions
• Credentialing guidance
• Program progression advising
Academic advising:
advising@anhco.org
Technical and platform support:
support@anhco.org
Continuous Review and Quality Assurance
Learner feedback is reviewed continuously and escalated when required.
Curriculum, mentorship outcomes, and assessment integrity are reviewed quarterly by academic leadership and advisory teams.
This ensures:
• Content remains current
• Standards remain consistent
• Student concerns are addressed promptly
• Accreditation alignment is maintained
ANHCO operates as a postsecondary institution, not a static course provider.
Why This Matters for Students
Mentorship and support exist to reduce three long-term risks:
Practicing beyond scope
Developing unexamined habits
Advancing without defensible readiness
Graduates consistently report:
• Greater confidence grounded in structure
• Clearer professional boundaries
• Increased trust from clients and collaborators
• Reduced ethical anxiety
These outcomes are not guaranteed. They are earned through structure and feedback.
Why Our Alumni Prefer Mentorship
Mentorship and student support at ANHCO are governance mechanisms.
They exist to:
• Translate learning into judgment
• Protect students and clients
• Align education with real-world evaluation
• Replace uncertainty with clarity
In an unregulated profession, mentorship is not optional. It is protection.
For questions about mentorship pathways or student support, contact: advising@anhco.org