Animas Centre for Coaching

Animas Centre for Coaching is a UK-based, fully remote online coach training organisation founded by Nick Bolton in 2008. It is one of the leading transformative coaching schools in the UK and European field, offering the Accredited Diploma in Transformative Coaching. Animas has trained over 4,000 coaches and 200+ coaching supervisors across more than 50 countries.

Nick Bolton is the founder and CEO of Animas Centre for Coaching. An existentially-trained coach, supervisor, and author, Bolton developed the 12 Principles of Transformative Coaching framework and published the canonical text The Art of Transformative Coaching: Philosophy, Principles and Practice in 2025. He is widely regarded as one of the more intellectually rigorous voices in the UK coaching field.

The Accredited Diploma in Transformative Coaching is Animas's flagship and current programme: an online, cohort-based training that typically runs 12 months, delivered in small groups of around 12. Animas trainers are at least ICF PCC credentialed. The programme combines six two-day live virtual modules with a 16-part self-paced video course, 1-to-1 mentoring sessions, 40 practice coaching hours, coaching supervision, practice groups, and observed real-client practice.

Yes. The Animas Diploma holds [ICF](/organizations/icf) Level 2 accreditation, following the PCC pathway. Graduates are eligible to apply for the ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC) credential after accumulating 500 coaching hours and meeting ICF's mentoring requirements. The Diploma is also accredited by [EMCC](/organizations/emcc) at Senior Practitioner Level and by [AC](/organizations/ac). That makes it triple-accredited from a single programme, which is relatively uncommon in the field.

The Diploma is delivered fully online through live virtual cohort sessions. Animas is a fully remote organisation with no physical campus, and was an early adopter of online coach training, building its delivery model specifically for the online format.

Typically 12 months. The programme combines six two-day live training modules, a 16-part self-paced theory video course, 1-to-1 mentoring sessions, 40 practice coaching hours, coaching supervision, and practice groups, with cohorts progressing together through the full arc.

The International Centre for Coaching Supervision (ICCS) is Animas's sister organisation, offering specialist training in coaching supervision. It builds on the transformative orientation of Animas and is one of the more developed supervision training pathways in the UK and European field.

The Diploma is for aspiring coaches who want a philosophically grounded, psychologically informed training rather than a skills-only certification. It is also well suited to professionals in therapy, consulting, wellness, or leadership seeking to integrate a transformative coaching lens into existing practice.

An Animas Diploma tells you that the coach completed an ICF Level 2-accredited training grounded in existential, humanistic, and phenomenological philosophy. It means they spent significant time studying the 12 Principles of Transformative Coaching framework, completed 40 practice coaching hours alongside mentoring, supervision, and observed practice, and had that training verified by three independent professional bodies (ICF at Level 2, EMCC at Senior Practitioner Level, and AC simultaneously). That triple accreditation is relatively rare. Coaching is not therapy; an Animas-trained coach is qualified to support growth, career transitions, identity work, and leadership development, but not to diagnose or treat clinical mental health conditions. If you're dealing with a mental health challenge, confirm whether your coach holds additional qualifications before proceeding.

Ask them to explain the 12 Principles of Transformative Coaching in their own words. The answer tells you how deeply they've internalised the philosophy versus simply completing a curriculum. Ask what 'observer-level' work means in practice for them, and how they would approach a session where a client is stuck on a surface problem that seems to have a deeper identity layer underneath. Ask whether they hold an ICF, EMCC, or AC credential in addition to the Diploma; graduates who have pursued independent credentials have had their competency verified by an external body beyond the school itself. Animas coaching is particularly well-suited to clients who feel that skills or tactics haven't produced lasting change; if you're looking for a more structured, goal-focused approach, confirm the coach can work that way when the situation calls for it.