6.1Professional membership level 1 — “Master Trainer” MT

General conditions for awarding the title

Admission as an APC Master Trainer requires the consent of one APC Master Trainer. The condition for admission is exceptional merit for APC. A Master Trainer is the face of the Association. A Master Trainer is authorised to certify trainers and to accredit training programmes and training centres. A mandatory condition is at least 5 years of training work and provision of coaching services from the moment of becoming an APC Trainer, as well as a contribution to the establishment and development of coaching/NLP as a form of professional support. A Master Trainer must also be able to deliver any topic of their training programme without notes or prompts, give high-quality feedback to participants, show creativity in running a training and be as flexible and respectful as possible towards participants. A Master Trainer must have their own original training programme.

Certification criteria

1. 460 hours of training programmes and personal supervision on the topics of the programmes delivered (360 hours of coaching and/or NLP programmes and 100 hours of Train the Trainer).
2. Completion of a 10-day APC Train the Trainer internship under the guidance of an APC Master Trainer.
3. Writing a book on the topic of the programmes delivered, representing a special contribution to the development of NLP or coaching.
4. 5 years of training work from the moment of becoming an APC Trainer.
5. At least 800 hours of training programmes delivered from the moment of becoming an APC Trainer.
6. 200 or more students/graduates of one’s own training programmes.
7. Submission of a video recording of one’s own 2-day training (at least 8 hours of recording).

6.1.1Qualification “APC NLP Master Supervisor” MS-NLP

General provisions

APC NLP Master Supervisor is the highest professional qualification of the Association. It grants the exclusive right to organise and deliver APC supervision programmes for specialists who have completed APC NLP certification programmes (NLP Practitioner, NLP Master, etc.). Supervision programmes under the auspices of APC may be delivered only by an APC NLP Master Supervisor. The MS-NLP qualification is awarded only to an active APC Master Trainer by decision of the APC Board.

Criteria for awarding the qualification

1. Holding the active title “APC Master Trainer” (mandatory condition).
2. At least 5 years of practical consulting work (NLP consulting) and at least 1,000 documented hours of individual work with clients, as well as at least 3 years of work as a Master Trainer.
3. One’s own original consulting or supervision method, set out in writing (a methodological guide, book or programme approved by the APC Board).
4. Experience in giving structured feedback: at least 300 hours of certifications, practice reviews or supervision of students within APC programmes.
5. At least 50 hours of personal supervision of one’s own practice with a Master Trainer or a supervisor of a recognised international association.
6. Knowledge of the APC ethical norms and commitment to follow them in the role of supervisor (Charter section 14.1.6).
7. No violations of the Charter or APC ethical norms during the entire period of membership.

Rights of an APC NLP Master Supervisor

1. To develop, accredit and deliver APC NLP supervision programmes.
2. To issue supervision certificates jointly with APC.
3. To train candidates for the MS-NLP qualification and recommend them to the Board.

6.2Professional membership level 2 — “Trainer”: Master Certified Coach MCC

General conditions for awarding the title

An APC Master Certified Coach (trainer of coaching programmes) must meet the APC criteria for the professional training of trainers, pass the APC Master Certified Coach certification, complete an intensive trainer training course of at least 100 hours and pass the APC Trainer certification.

APC Master Certified Coaches are certified by an APC Master Trainer. To be certified as a Master Certified Coach, one must meet the professional criteria of an APC Professional Certified Coach and have testimonials from at least 15 clients for 50 paid sessions, over a period of at least one and a half years (18 months) from the start of training at the Professional Coach level in an APC training centre.

Certification criteria

1. Complete Train the Trainer.
2. A total of 380 hours of training programmes and personal supervision in coaching (280 hours of coaching programmes and 100 hours of Train the Trainer).
3. Pass the Train the Trainer test in coaching.
4. Pass the behavioural certification — delivering a demonstration training (60 minutes).
5. Conduct a transformational session with a client of at least 45 minutes under the observation of a Master Trainer.
6. Have written testimonials for 50 sessions from paying clients (at least 15) before starting the APC Train the Trainer programme.

6.3Professional membership level 2 — “Trainer”: NLP Trainer TNLP

General conditions for awarding the title

An NLP Trainer should, fully or to a moderate degree, have the following qualities:

• Personal congruence as a trainer.
• Ecology in the work of the trainer and the group.
• Developed subject-matter competence.
• One’s own training style.
• Ability to work in different training styles.
• Ability to model different training styles and integrate them.
• Managing a group at different logical levels.
• Ability to manage the three phases of a group according to John Whitmore.
• Effective use of psychogeography.
• Knowledge of the laws of learning — mastery of the 4MAT model.
• The art of building teaching metaphors.
• Setting training goals and developing an appropriate training design.
• Developing flexibility in managing different content and technology blocks of a training programme.
• Ability to develop one’s own training programmes and original exercises.
• Skill in creating a supportive learning environment.
• Ability to create presentation and handout materials.
• Ability to give multi-level feedback during a training.
• Command of various forms of learning activity.
• Developing skills in motivating a group and handling “difficult cases” that arise in learning.
• Analysis of the specifics of teaching key topics of standard certification programmes.
• Building mind maps that consolidate important content.
• Skills in conducting NLP Practitioner and NLP Master certifications.

Certification criteria

1. Complete Train the Trainer.
2. A total of 400 hours of training programmes and personal supervision on the topics of the programmes delivered (300 hours of NLP programmes — NLP Practitioner, NLP Master — and 100 hours of APC Train the Trainer).
3. Pass the Train the Trainer test in NLP.
4. Pass the behavioural certification — delivering a demonstration training (60 minutes).
5. Have written testimonials for 50 sessions from paying clients (at least 15) before starting the APC Train the Trainer programme.
6. Complete an internship of 25 hours of training work under the guidance of an APC Master Trainer.

6.4Professional membership level 2 — “Trainer”: APC Business Trainer; APC Trainer of Specialised Programmes TB / TSP

General conditions for awarding the title

An APC Business Trainer or APC Trainer of Specialised Programmes must meet the APC criteria for the professional training of Trainers, pass the APC Train the Trainer certification, complete an intensive trainer training course of at least 100 hours and pass the APC Trainer certification.

Certification criteria

1. Complete APC Train the Trainer — 100 hours.
2. Have 50 hours (documented) of training programmes in business and other specialised programmes (personal growth, business courses) or own a business.
3. Pass the APC Trainer of Specialised Programmes / Business Trainer test.
4. Pass the behavioural certification — delivering a demonstration training (60 minutes).

6.5Professional membership level 2 — “Trainer”: Enneagram Trainer TE

General conditions for awarding the title

An Enneagram Trainer should, fully or to a moderate degree, have the following qualities:

• Personal congruence as a trainer.
• Ecology in the work of the trainer and the group.
• Developed subject-matter competence.
• One’s own training style.
• Ability to work in different training styles.
• Ability to model different training styles and integrate them.
• Managing a group at different logical levels.
• Ability to manage the three phases of a group according to John Whitmore.
• Effective use of psychogeography.
• Knowledge of the laws of learning — mastery of the 4MAT model.
• The art of building teaching metaphors.
• Setting training goals and developing an appropriate training design.
• Developing flexibility in managing different content and technology blocks of a training programme.
• Ability to develop one’s own training programmes and original exercises.
• Skill in creating a supportive learning environment.
• Ability to create presentation and handout materials.
• Ability to give multi-level feedback during a training.
• Command of various forms of learning activity.
• Developing skills in motivating a group and handling “difficult cases” that arise in learning.
• Analysis of the specifics of teaching key topics of standard certification programmes.
• Building mind maps that consolidate important content.
• Skills in conducting Enneagram Practitioner and Enneagram Master certifications.

Certification criteria

1. Complete APC Train the Trainer — at least 100 hours.
2. A total of 200 hours of Enneagram training programmes.
3. Conduct an Enneatype typing interview.
4. Pass the Train the Trainer test in the Enneagram.
5. Pass the behavioural certification — delivering a demonstration training (60 minutes).

6.6Professional membership level 3 — “Master”: Professional Certified Coach PCC

General conditions for awarding the title

An APC Professional Certified Coach is a specialist who has completed a coaching training programme at one of the APC training centres, consisting of at least 16 full training days, including classroom and out-of-class coaching sessions for the trainee, internal coaching supervision and practice in conducting coaching sessions; who has demonstrated during certification the criteria of an APC Professional Certified Coach corresponding to Thomas Leonard’s standards of a professional coach, as well as the standards of practical application of team and transformational coaching; and who works within the classical coaching approach developed by the founder of coaching, Timothy Gallwey.

Certification criteria

1. Complete the professional coach training programme — participation in 8 modules.
2. Provide 45 out-of-class individual coaching sessions in groups of 3 (each person conducts/receives 15 documented hours/sessions as coach, client and supervisor).
3. Conduct 5 out-of-class mini coaching trainings or facilitations of team coaching sessions in groups of 6 (documented).
4. Develop and present the design of a 2-day training using the “Cube” model before the certification module (a detailed plan of one’s own training).
5. Receive 4 hours/sessions of personal coaching as a client from a Professional Certified Coach (PCC).
6. Provide a video recording or demonstration of individual coaching with a client (not a group member), at least 30 minutes.
7. Pass a coaching theory test with at least 80 out of 100 points.
8. Pass the behavioural certification in individual classical coaching in the 8th module — demonstration of work with a client.
9. Pass the group behavioural certification — demonstration of group management (facilitation/moderation, managing group dynamics according to John Whitmore).

6.7Professional membership level 3 — “Master”: NLP Master MANLP

General conditions for awarding the title

An NLP Master must hold the NLP Practitioner certificate and have NLP Practitioner skills, complete an NLP Master training programme of at least 144 hours, write an examination project on modelling and defend it as practical work with a client in the final module of the training programme.

Command of the elements of mastery

• Optimal engagement.
• Conscious and unconscious integration.
• Balance between structure and spontaneity.
• Changing personal boundaries of perception.
• Personal congruence.
• Directing attention.
• Multiple description.

Understanding metaprograms

• Style of organising information.
• Classification of the world.
• Focus of comparison.
• Motivation.
• Reference.
• Time.

Skills in using metaprograms

• Flexibility in using metaprograms.
• Pacing and leading by metaprograms.
• Exploring a person’s metaprogram profile.
• Approaches to changing and developing metaprograms.

Understanding systemic approaches in NLP

• Knowledge of the theory of self-organising systems “NLP Landscape”: an approach to the multidimensional description of experience.
• Development of the three-position description model.

Skills in multiple description and systemic change

• Command of approaches to creating “one’s own NLP techniques”.
• Changing “deep filters” of perception and behaviour through multiple description.
• Ability to identify and change a system of goals.

Understanding the structure of values and beliefs

• Knowledge of the main ways to identify and change the hierarchy of values and criteria.
• Understanding what a system of faith, beliefs and values is.
• Knowledge of the classification of verbal patterns for changing beliefs.
• Knowledge of the basic principles of building belief change techniques.
• Identifying a person’s convincers.

Skills in working with values and beliefs

• Identifying the hierarchy of values and criteria.
• Command of ways to change the hierarchy of criteria.
• Identifying beliefs formed around values.
• Identifying limiting beliefs and being able to change them.
• Identifying supportive positive beliefs.
• Ability to define new beliefs.
• Command of belief work techniques.
• Changing limiting beliefs using visual submodalities.
• “Imprinting a new belief”.
• “Installing a new belief on the timeline”.

Understanding the structure of behavioural and thinking strategies

• Knowing the difference in using the T.O.T.E. model to identify macro- and micro-strategies.
• Knowledge of the NLP strategy notation.
• Knowledge of the conditions of a well-formed strategy.
• Understanding the basic micro-strategies: memory, reality, motivation, learning/creativity, decision-making.
• Ability to identify macro-strategies and plan changes in a strategy.
• Command of basic skills in working with strategies: eliciting and recording, bringing the client to awareness of their own strategy, using and installing the studied strategy.

Understanding modelling patterns

• Knowledge of the basic principles of modelling.
• Understanding the “subtraction model”.
• Knowledge of basic modelling strategies: explicit and implicit, micro- and macro-modelling, self-modelling.

Modelling skills

• Recognising the main patterns of a model.
• Implicit modelling, association with the model, metaphorical description of the model’s holistic structures.
• Explicit modelling, identifying the model’s macro- and micro-strategies, clear recording of strategies, designing the overall layout.
• Creating an overall meta-strategy for transferring the model’s basic patterns (creating instructions for the learner).
• Preparing and defending the Modelling Project.
• Command of the Master’s meta-frame for gathering information and planning interventions.

Certification criteria

1. NLP Practitioner certificate.
2. Command of NLP Practitioner skills at the level of conscious and unconscious competence.
3. Completion of the “NLP Master” programme of at least 144 hours.
4. Presentation and defence of a modelling project in the certification module of the course.

6.8Professional membership level 3 — “Master”: Enneagram Master MAE

General conditions for awarding the title

1. Active participation in the training programme and exercises.
2. Clear understanding of one’s own Enneatype.
3. Understanding of the instincts of all 9 Enneatypes.
4. Understanding of the definitions and characteristics of the levels of development for all 9 Enneatypes.

Certification criteria

1. Completion of the “Enneagram Master” course of at least 32 hours.
2. Holding the “Enneagram Practitioner” certificate.
3. Passing the Enneagram test — Master level.

6.9Professional membership level 4 — “Practitioner”: Associate Certified Coach ACC

General conditions for awarding the title

An APC Associate Certified Coach is a coaching specialist who does not meet some of the criteria of the APC Professional Coach level, but who has demonstrated during certification the criteria corresponding to Thomas Leonard’s standards of a professional coach, as well as the standards of practical application of team and transformational coaching, and who works within the standard coaching approach developed by the founder of coaching, Timothy Gallwey.

Certification criteria

1. Complete the professional coach training programme — participation in 8 modules.
2. 30 individual coaching sessions in groups of three (each person conducts/receives 10 documented hours/sessions).
3. Conduct 5 mini coaching trainings or facilitations of team coaching sessions in groups of 6 (documented).
4. Receive 2 hours/sessions of personal coaching as a client from a certified professional coach.
5. Pass a coaching theory test with at least 50 out of 100 points.
6. Pass the behavioural certification — demonstration of work with a client.

P.S. Some of the certification requirements for the ACC level may be met partially. Which requirements is at the trainer’s discretion. During certification, the trainer will pay attention to the overall preparation of the ACC candidate.

6.10Professional membership level 4 — “Practitioner”: NLP Practitioner PNLP

General conditions for awarding the title

The title of NLP Practitioner is awarded to a participant of an NLP Practitioner programme of at least 157 hours. It is also necessary to pass the written and behavioural certification in the final module of the course and to meet the additional certification requirements.

Command of the following skills

• Calibration.
• Pacing and leading at different levels (verbal and non-verbal) — by sensory predicates, eye accessing cues, logical levels, time predicates and perceptual positions.
• Multisensory representation of information.
• Eliciting and maintaining one’s own resourceful states.
• Association and dissociation.
• Chunking up, chunking down and moving by analogy.
• Anchoring.
• Positional shifts.
• Verbal reframing.
• State breaking.
• Backtracking and technological analysis of one’s own work.
• Identifying secondary gains.
• Recognising signs of trance, inducing and maintaining altered states of consciousness.
• Choosing techniques for a stated symptom.

Command of the following formats and methods of work

• Gathering information and formulating goals.
• Describing states through external indicators.
• VAKD modality format.
• Submodality format.
• Ecology check.
• Checking the effectiveness of one’s own work.
• Giving high-quality feedback.
• Identifying and using the subjective perception of time (“timelines”).

Knowledge of the following models and their use in various contexts

• T.O.T.E.
• C.O.R.E.
• Representational systems model: VAKD.
• Submodality model.
• Meta Model.
• Milton Model.
• Logical levels.
• Three-position description.
• Timeline.

Command of the following techniques and knowledge of the purpose of each step

• “Circle of Excellence”.
• “Walt Disney Creativity Strategy”.
• “Resolving a communication situation using three-position description”.
• “Logical Levels Alignment”.
• “Collapsing anchors”, “Resource anchoring”.
• “Changing personal history on the timeline”.
• “Integration of conflicting parts”.
• “Swish pattern”.
• “Fast phobia cure”.
• “Visual-kinaesthetic dissociation”.
• “Six-step reframing”.
• “Treating emotional point allergies”.

Certification criteria

Certification at the “NLP Practitioner” level consists of five parts.

1. Completion of the “NLP Practitioner” course of at least 157 hours.
2. 15 hours of individual out-of-class work with clients recorded in a client work report.
3. 2 sessions as a client with a certified NLP Master or NLP Trainer.
4. Passing a test on the theoretical part of the subject.
5. Behavioural certification — demonstration of “NLP Practitioner” skills in a session with a client.

6.11Professional membership level 4 — “Practitioner”: Enneagram Practitioner PE

General conditions for awarding the title

1. Active participation in the training programme and exercises.
2. Clear understanding of one’s own Enneatype.
3. Understanding of the descriptions, motivations and fixations of all 9 Enneatypes.
4. Understanding of the definitions and characteristics of the Enneagram: the three centres, wings and state transitions for all 9 Enneatypes.

Certification criteria

Associate level

1. Completion of the “Enneagram Practitioner” course of at least 32 hours.

Professional level

1. Completion of the “Enneagram Practitioner” course of at least 32 hours.
2. Holding the “NLP Practitioner” or “Associate Coach” certificate.
3. Passing the Enneagram test — Practitioner level.

6.12Non-professional membership level 5 — “Honorary Member of the Association”

General conditions for awarding the title

Special merits and contribution to the development of the Association of Professional Coaches.

A person who has completed any course of the Association of Professional Coaches programmes — NLP, Ericksonian hypnosis, coaching, Enneagram — but has not passed certification.