Life coaching is one of the most promising professions today. This is because, rather than going to shrinks, people now prefer to be "treated" in a more positive manner. Because of life coaching's sudden popularity, more and more people are also asking for tips on how to create a practice effectively. More clients, after all, can only mean one thing: more room for income.

If you're already a psychiatrist who's licensed to administer psychotherapy, life coaching is a possible option for career shifts. You can also be a fulltime psychotherapist and a life coach on the side if you're diverse enough as a professional.

If you're looking at the possibility of becoming a coach, you need to invest in learning the basic principles of coaching first. There are schools and institutions that are focused on mentoring potential life coaches. Unlike psychotherapy, the certification for this counseling profession is slightly more lenient.

This is also because life coaches are not allowed to "diagnose" clinical illnesses. When life coaches suspect that one of their clients have serious mental illness, they're morally obligated to turn the case over to certified shrinks. Before you become qualified, you're supposed to complete courses in a coaching school. Ideally, you're supposed to have a life coaching mentor too who has had a long enough working experience, and you need both theory and practice to qualify.

When choosing your life coach mentor, make sure that you agree with his/her principles in coaching and mentoring in general. S/he should also have ample knowledge about marketing the profession on and offline.