Six Seconds — The Emotional Intelligence Network

Six Seconds is the world's largest emotional intelligence (EQ) practitioner network, founded in 1997 as a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting people in using emotional intelligence to create positive change. Based in the United States and operating in 200+ countries, Six Seconds has trained over 25,000 practitioners globally and offers the most complete suite of ICF-accredited EQ-specific coaching certifications in the field, spanning Level 1 (ACC), Level 2 (PCC), and Level 3 (MCC) pathways.

The organization's name derives from a piece of neuroscience: the brain requires approximately six seconds to metabolize an emotional reaction chemically, meaning that the space between stimulus and response, between feeling and action, is both real and learnable. That six-second window is the working ground of emotional intelligence, and it is the practical foundation of everything Six Seconds teaches.

Six Seconds is notable for several things that distinguish it from most coaching schools: it is a non-profit with a mission orientation; it holds ICF accreditation at all three credential levels; it operates a proprietary assessment ecosystem (SEI, the Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Assessment) that graduates are certified to use with clients; and it maintains a research and publishing operation that produces empirical EQ data year-over-year for use by coaches, organizations, and researchers.

At a glance

• Founded — 1997 by Joshua Freedman

• CEO — Joshua Freedman, MCC

• Type — Coach Training Organisation / Non-profit

• Headquarters — United States; global offices and partners in 200+ countries

• Website — 6seconds.org

• ICF accreditation — Level 1 (ACC), Level 2 (PCC), and Level 3 (MCC), full-spectrum accreditation

• Practitioners trained — 25,000+ globally

• University partnership — Antioch University; graduate credit transfer eligible for EQCC graduates (MA/MBA)

History

Six Seconds was founded in 1997 by Joshua Freedman and Anabel Jensen in the Bay Area of California, originally as a school-based social-emotional learning initiative. The name and underlying principle came from early neuroscience research on the amygdala's chemical cycle: six seconds of space between a reactive impulse and a chosen response is the operational moment of emotional intelligence. Freedman has since become one of the most published practitioners in the global EQ field, holding an ICF MCC credential and publishing over 20 books and studies on emotional intelligence.

Over the following decades, Six Seconds expanded from educational contexts into organizational coaching, executive development, and professional certification, while maintaining its non-profit structure and research-publishing mission. The organization now produces an annual Global EQ Report (surveying tens of thousands of practitioners and professionals), maintains a research library, and partners with Antioch University on graduate academic credit for program graduates.

Programs and offerings

Associate Brain Coach Certification (ABCC) — ICF Level 1 accredited program, 108 ICF-accredited hours. Entry pathway: EQ Practitioner Certification → Coach Cert Foundations (with Brain Profiler Certification) → ABCC Level 1 completion. ACC credential pathway. Available in English, Chinese, Spanish, and Vietnamese.

EQ Coach Certification (EQCC) — Six Seconds' flagship ICF Level 2 accredited coaching program, 224 total accredited coaching education hours. Designed for coaches who want deep EQ methodology training at the PCC level, along with certification to use the SEI (Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Assessment) with clients. PCC credential pathway. Antioch University graduate credit transfer available.

EQ Master Coach Certification (EQMC) — ICF Level 3 accredited program, 80 ICF-accredited hours plus additional mentoring. Designed for coaches with an existing PCC credential seeking the MCC. Requires demonstrated expertise in Six Seconds' methodology (100+ SEI debriefs for full certification). MCC credential pathway.

SEI (Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Assessment) — Proprietary EQ assessment certified for use by Six Seconds graduates. Measures client EQ across eight competencies in three areas: Know Yourself, Choose Yourself, Give Yourself. Used before and after coaching engagements to demonstrate measurable change.

Research and publications — Annual Global EQ Report, research library, practitioner case studies, and empirical data on EQ in organizational and coaching contexts.

What makes Six Seconds distinctive

Three structural facts define Six Seconds' position in the coaching field. First, the level architecture: full-spectrum ICF accreditation across Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 means coaches can start with the ABCC (ACC pathway) and progress all the way to the EQMC (MCC pathway) without ever leaving the Six Seconds methodology. That kind of cradle-to-mastery continuity on a single EQ framework is rare in the industry.

Second, the SEI assessment. Coaches certified by Six Seconds can administer and debrief the SEI, a psychometrically validated EQ measurement tool, with their clients. This gives coaches a before/after measurement instrument for EQ-specific work that makes growth visible, differentiates their offer, and provides empirical data to justify engagements with corporate clients. No other EQ-specific coaching certification gives coaches their own assessment tool included in the program.

Third, the non-profit identity and global research mission produce something intangible but real: credibility with institutional clients. A coach who trained at a research-publishing, non-profit EQ institute carries a different kind of authority than one who trained at a commercial competitor. For coaches building practices in organizational, healthcare, or leadership contexts, that distinction resonates.