Certified Thought Partner™
Unlock the power of professional coaching.
A six-day, in-person coach training program for leaders who want to drive meaningful, lasting change — within themselves, their teams, and the organizations they serve.
Beyond skills — the practice of becoming.
The Certified Thought Partner™ Coach Training course is essential for anyone seeking to drive meaningful, lasting change within themselves and their organization. In today's competitive landscape, organizations must create cultures rooted in psychological safety and feedback to attract, engage, and retain top talent.
This course goes beyond traditional leadership programs, empowering participants to become transformative leaders who foster thriving, resilient communities. By focusing not only on the skills coaches need but also on who they must become, the program builds character alongside coaching capabilities — making it one of the most impactful and comprehensive coaching courses available.
Participants develop expertise in generative listening and transformative feedback techniques that inspire growth and deliver a powerful return on investment of time and resources. Through experiential workshops and hands-on practice, participants experience and then learn to create a culture of psychological safety and curiosity-driven feedback.
Certified Thought Partners™ emerge with the insights, skills, and confidence to engage empathetically, lead transformative conversations, and elevate their organizations toward new heights of excellence.
Four competencies. One integrated practice.
The Certified Thought Partner™ model is built on four interdependent competencies. Each is taught experientially, then practiced in cohort, then reflected on between sessions.
Presence
The foundation.
Foster an environment where the Talent feels psychologically safe and cared for. Hold the space, suspend judgment, and convey unconditional positive regard. Inquiry, Discovery, and Action all rest here.
Inquiry
Generative listening, ongoing curiosity.
Questions are artfully extended as an opportunity for the Talent to uncover their underlying beliefs, behaviors, and barriers — as well as the desired future state. Goals are clearly understood, with positive, attainable end points.
Discovery
Awareness elevates to possibility.
The Thought Partner walks shoulder to shoulder with the Talent as new learnings create a pathway for goal attainment. Specific, achievable, and meaningful steps are revealed with flexibility and grace.
Action
Co-creating the plan, measuring the win.
While maintaining the safety of presence and continued powerful questions, the Thought Partner and Talent recognize growth and co-create the plan for mastering the goal. Success is measurable and celebrated throughout the journey.
Three two-day intensives across the cohort calendar. Each day blends teaching, demonstration, dyad and triad practice, and structured group reflection. Individual and collaborative homework between sessions deepens the work.
Follow-up group mentor coaching with Michelle to refine your practice, troubleshoot real coaching engagements, and prepare for credentialing. Mentor coaching is a credentialing requirement and a turning-point in most participants' confidence.
Certificates are awarded upon successful completion of all synchronous hours, asynchronous work, and a recorded coaching evaluation. You leave with a credential — and, more importantly, with a coaching identity.
The Center for Credentialing and Education has approved this course as meeting the educational requirements for the Board-Certified Coach (BCC) credential. The program also aligns with ICF Core Competencies. Total: 39 synchronous classroom hours, 4 mentor-coaching hours, and 17 asynchronous hours — 60 hours of training credit.
A coaching practice rooted in how the brain learns.
Coaching, at its best, is a structured space for reflection. Drawing on Self-Determination Theory, Conscious Discipline brain-states, and the principles of Neuro-Linguistic Programming, the course gives you an evidence-grounded vocabulary for what you are doing and why.
You'll learn to create the conditions for autonomy, belonging, and competence — the three psychological needs Deci and Ryan identified as the foundations of intrinsic motivation — and you'll develop the presence, inquiry, discovery, and action skills to make them real in conversation.
"We do not learn from experience — we learn from reflecting on experience."— John Dewey
Six days, three intensives.
Foundations of presence and inquiry.
- Coaching and the brain · brain-states model
- Coaching and core psychological needs · Self-Determination Theory
- Core competencies: Presence and Inquiry
- Introduction to NLP presuppositions
- Thought Partner coaching guideposts
Listening, discovery, and feedback.
- The value of silence in coaching
- Generative listening and global listening
- Core competency: Discovery · Logical Levels
- Core competency: Action · performance distinctions
- The Prepare and DIP feedback model
Advanced practice and integration.
- Metaphor in coaching
- Common barriers and how to navigate them
- Advanced coaching skills · live observation
- Coaching evaluations and credentialing prep
- Building your post-cohort practice
Not just what you need to do. Who you need to become.
Most coach training teaches techniques. This program teaches techniques — and asks something more of you. Through structured reflection, vulnerability in cohort, and Michelle's mentorship, participants develop the character alongside the capabilities.
Coaching, in this tradition, is not a set of actions. It is a state of being — cultivated deliberately, practiced together, and carried into every conversation that follows.
One coach. Concentric circles of change.
Personal growth and leadership
Participants enhance self-awareness and leadership skills, and cultivate a mindset of continuous learning and adaptability.
Team dynamics and collaboration
As participants become more self-aware and empowered, the impact extends into divergent perspectives, inclusivity, communication, and shared purpose.
Organizational culture
Coaching contributes to a culture where feedback is frequent, growth is continuous, and individuals feel valued, heard, and motivated to contribute their best.
Community impact
Empowered, self-aware individuals create a ripple — promoting positive change, innovation, and a sense of interconnectedness in the wider community.
Michelle Bostian, MSW, PCC, BCC.
Michelle has spent twenty-five years walking shoulder to shoulder with executives, intact teams, and whole organizations through change. She holds PCC and BCC credentials, and has trained coaches across education, healthcare, finance, and technology. She designed the Certified Thought Partner™ curriculum to be the program she wished she'd had when she was starting out.
The cohort experience is intentionally small. Michelle leads every session herself — there is no junior-trainer hand-off — and you will know your cohort by the end of the first weekend.
Become the coach your team is waiting for.
Cohorts are intentionally small and fill by conversation. We'd love to hear what you're hoping to build — schedule a discovery call to talk it through.