The Life Coaching Handbook

by Curly Martin

This complete guide to life coaching reveals what life coaching IS, how to coach yourself and others effectively, and how to create and sustain a successful coaching practice. Leading you through a comprehensive programme of Advanced Life Coaching Skills, it contains key NLP-based techniques that include:

State Control
Rapport-building
Spiral Coaching
Meta-programs
Meta-languages
The Milton Model

The Life Coaching Handbook is the essential guide for life coaches, and a key source-book for NLP practitioners, human resources managers, training professionals, counsellors and the curious. Curly Martin is a professional life coach, author, trainer and internationally qualified NLP Master Practitioner. Coaching for more than twenty years, her clients include celebrities, CEOs, directors and doctors.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Psychology, Audiobook, Business, Personal Development, Leadership

330 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Me · Rating 2 out of 5]

You know...if I wanted a book on NLP, I would have reached for one on my book shelf. I have many. NLP books. AND book shelves. And that's just the first thought I have about this book. Great. Another NLP brief overview with very little to dip one's toe in. The examples are scant to so lightweight they are nearly non-existent.

And one thing I take note on is this passage:

"A client said that she thought her boss picked on her. I used a reframe by saying 'Yes, i can see how you could think your boss is picking on you. I have another client much like you - in fact in almost identical circumstances. She believes that she's very special and that her boss thinks she has special talents that deserve developing. The boss, although not a pleasant man with a brusque approach, is helping her to develop these talents and make her a more marketable person."
-Curly Martin, Life Coaching Handbook, pg 90

Now, if there wasn't a more demeaning, emotions-minimizing, misogynistic approach to "coaching," I haven't heard of it. Seriously?

But I could be terribly wrong here. I don't know. That paragraph above is open to contemplation and discussion. Still, the boundary between life coaching and therapy is a tenuous one, apparently. but still, to minimize a clients feelings and basically say that the boss (brusque approach) is "picking on you" for, apparently, "your own good" is...hard stop. No. Not cool. And, in the land of therapy, a flagrant ethical issue.

NLP is famous for its use in therapy but, if you look in to it, it is also used widely in emotional manipulation. It would seem that Ms. Martin is using her position as a "coach" to minimize feelings. This is emotional abuse.

Still. A lifecoach could say "yeah, well, you're biased against life coaching."

To that: argumentum ad hominem. Read the paragraph again and tell me that isn't minimizing. And for those who disagree, go ahead, attempt to refute it, I'll wait. Apparently "coaching" is something similar to gaslighting now.

Still. Are there good things in the book? Yes. The section on beliefs is rather well written, especially the metaphor of a "suitcase." That's a good takeaway, as is the "prison" idea (although I associate that idea with Brad Blanton and his book Radical Honesty [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...]).

And if you're wanting to look into NLP, don't read this book.

[Georg Wanek · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read for all who Life Coaches and those who want to become. It covers the basics of set up a coaching practice, listening, asking questions, get your clients to seriously participate. On top of that you learn basics about NLP, Meta Programs and metaphors. After I read the Business Coaching Handbook this was a must read for me.

[Natasa Tovornik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great as part of the coach-training with a lot of helpful methods, procedures, questions and examples.
A great read also to anyone wanting to improve their relationships or realigning their focus.

[Tomas Svitorka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written and straight to the point.
Lacking specific examples and strategies but very pleasant reading.

[MalaChi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The style of writing was great, however the information is definitely dated, which is expected for a book written in 2001. This is a 2020 reprint and I was sad to see the only update was a letter from the author in the beginning dated 2005. There is some good information, but all of the marketing ideas are from a time before digital marketing. While face to face is still a fantastic option, people really don't use fax machines anymore and there is only a brief mention of utilizing websites or email marketing. The scripting given for working with clients seems very dry and somewhat condescending. Often it sounds forced, which is not going to work well with many of my clients today. The methods for coaching listed are a good start and provide a lot of good info, however some sound somewhat horoscope-like saying people who think like this are this type of person and this is how they look. It was very off putting and stereotypical. I did find some good advice in the book, and a bit of guidance on how to structure some coaching sessions, but ultimately I most likely will not be using much for the methods listed in this book except for the usual rapport building skills I already knew, and some of the NLP techniques that other sources go into more detail on. This is a good book to gain a basic understanding of what coaching is, and it's good for someone who is new to the field, but with the dated information, there are better sources out there for techniques and anyone new to coaching is urged to seek out additional resources.

[Isabel Siller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muy buen libro si quieres formalizar tu práctica de coaching, tiene buenas técnicas de NLP y explica a veces un poco de más cómo podemos desarrollar la práctica del coaching, el trato con los clientes, con tu trabajo, los errores de principiante y cómo reconocer el tipo de mentalidad con el que trabajarás para generar estrategias desde el punto de vista del cliente
Me ha hecho comprender mejor la importancia de ver al cliente desde donde está con el conocimiento que tienes y generar esas opciones, perspectiva y dirección sin ser disruptivos y descartados
Tiene excelentes consejos sobre ética, seguridad y educación a cómo manejar la práctica con los clientes así como obtener la merecida recompensa por la labor noble de ayudar a los demás a alcanzar sus sueños

Algunas cosas faltan de actualizarse especialmente en el ámbito de marketing y uso de herramientas tecnológicas pero es biblia para un coach

Subrayé de más, me encantó

[Amy Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book full of tips, ideas and examples for life coaching. She also covers NLP for coaching and how to set up a coaching business. Although a tiny bit of the information is dated (to be expected as it was the first book written on the subject) the coaching model ICANDO and the step by step process for coaching is easy to follow and to use when coaching a client. This is a must read for new coaches.

[Maria Glenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok for the basics but very dated now

I think this book is great at hitting the basics of coaching, but it does feel quite dated. If you're wanting to build an online business, this book wont go into marketing that way.
It also mentions niching as an aside, but these days most people want to specialise

What this book does is give you some basics. So if that's what you're looking for, you wont be too disappointed.

[Josh Dzarir · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic resource for both aspiring and seasoned life coaches. The book is packed with practical advice, useful techniques, and real-life examples that make it easy to understand and apply. I especially appreciated the clear structure and step-by-step approach that guides you through the coaching process, from setting up your practice to mastering effective coaching strategies. While some parts felt a bit repetitive, the overall content is solid and incredibly helpful

[Alexandra Bordea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great starter guide if you need all the specifics to get into coaching world.Each chapter is highly informative with the steps that will lead you to be a professional life coach and really give results to your clients. Also the book gives reference to proven techniques that work and it gives a clear vision how the sessions with clients would go if you apply them.Highly recommend it!!

[Evan Steele · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a brief overview this book shines. Simple effective clever but always brief. I really enjoyed several of the quotes she included.

On almost every topic, more information would be helpful, but what's here is a testament to the approach an introduction and overview.

Excellent

[Vikki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't finish it. Not enough examples to make the methods tangible.

[Osama Romoh · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first couple of chapters are great to get an understand of what life coaching is but the latter chapters contain outdated techniques and details.

[Autumn (Triquetra Reviews) · Rating 2 out of 5]

As others have said the beginning has good basic info if you're completely new to coaching. The latter chapters aren't very useful in today's market.

[Darren · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent overview of coaching. I would say more general overall than any really exciting tips, but did manage to keep my attention and was a pleasant read.

[Dru · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun book that gets you into the nitty-gritty of what you need to do.

[Carol Graves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful

[Kenya Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really helpful book. Short and too the point.

[Val Britt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A must read for all life coaches

[Mohamed · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is possibly the most naive and shallow book I have ever read. I am really surprised how it got an almost 3.8 on goodreads.

The author is assuming extreme intellectual supriority of the coach over the client, which makes you instantaneously lose trust with the author.

Concepts introduced in the book are quite straightforward and simple, which anyone with some basic knowledge already knows. There is no much added inputs by the author to any of the mentioned concepts, only a very basic explanation along with some examples of how to apply with your client, which is again, very straightforward.

In a nutshell, the book is quite disappointing. I don't recommend it.

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm reading this book a chapter a night, and so far it's... interesting. There's just something a little smarmy about her sales approach. However, her tips and insights about coaching itself are pretty good.

[Jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this book has been surpassed now by newer books, which bring in social networking, updated techniques, and the improvements in technology.

However there are some good models of coaching, and some great stuff on language

[Barb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good summary/overview of life coaching processes.