The Academies
The Academies offers neuroscience-based, ICF-accredited coaching programs founded in 2001 by Susan Britton. Built around the Red Zone | Blue Zone model, it pioneered brain science integration in coach training.
- Type
- Coach Training Organization
- Founded
- 2001
- Headquarters
- United States
About
The Academies is a US-based coach training organization founded in 2001 by Susan Britton, a professional coach and neuroscience educator who serves as the organisation's founder and president. The Academies offers neuroscience-based coaching programmes that integrate contemporary brain science (particularly the study of how different neurobiological states affect cognitive performance, emotional regulation, and relational capacity) into a rigorous, ICF-accredited coach training curriculum.
Its flagship model, the Red Zone | Blue Zone framework, provides coaches with a simple but scientifically grounded framework for understanding how stress and safety affect clients' thinking, learning, and behavioural change. The Academies is accredited by the International Coaching Federation at both Level 1 and Level 2. The Level 1 programme provides a pathway to the Associate Certified Coach (ACC) credential, and the Level 2 programme provides a pathway to the Professional Certified Coach (PCC) credential.
Founder: Susan Britton
Susan Britton is the founder and president of The Academies and the architect of the organisation's neuroscience-integrated coaching methodology. She has been training coaches since the founding of the organisation in 2001 and has spent more than fifteen years researching and synthesising neuroscience to develop the Red Zone | Blue Zone model that forms the conceptual foundation of The Academies' curriculum. Britton is widely recognised as one of the early adopters of neuroscience-informed coaching practice in the coach training field and has contributed to establishing scientific rigour as a standard expectation in coaching education. In 2025, the International Coaching Federation named her its Distinguished Coach Educator in the ICF Coaching Impact Awards, the federation's highest honour.
The Red Zone | Blue Zone Model
The Red Zone | Blue Zone model is The Academies' proprietary framework for applying neuroscience to coaching practice. The model captures the biological and psychological changes that occur in the brain and body depending on the individual's current neurobiological state.
The Red Zone represents the brain's threat-activation state, the fight-or-flight response triggered by perceived threat, stress, overwhelm, or uncertainty. In the Red Zone, the brain prioritises survival over cognition: the prefrontal cortex (responsible for rational thinking, planning, creativity, and empathy) is compromised, and access to the nuanced thinking and relational openness required for genuine learning and behaviour change is reduced. Leaders operating in the Red Zone tend toward reactive decision-making, reduced emotional intelligence, and diminished capacity for the kind of reflective inquiry that coaching is designed to support.
The Blue Zone represents the brain's calm-connect state, the neurobiological condition in which the nervous system is regulated, the prefrontal cortex is online, and the individual has access to the cognitive, emotional, and relational resources needed for learning, creativity, and collaborative engagement. Coaches who operate in the Blue Zone themselves, and who know how to help clients move from Red to Blue, create the neurological conditions in which genuine coaching work can happen.
The model is more than a conceptual framework: it informs how The Academies teaches core coaching skills such as active listening, powerful questioning, presence, and direct communication, grounding each skill in the neuroscience of what is happening in the client's brain during the coaching interaction.
Programmes and Accreditation
Level 1 Programme: Career and Leadership Coach with Neuroscience Foundation is The Academies' flagship coach training programme, approved by the International Coaching Federation as an ICF Level 1 Coaching Education Programme. The programme delivers 68 coach training hours and qualifies graduates to apply for the ICF Associate Certified Coach (ACC) credential. The curriculum covers ICF core coaching competencies alongside the neuroscience framework, equipping coaches with both the international credentialing pathway and the brain-science depth that distinguishes The Academies' approach.
Level 2 Programme is The Academies' ICF Level 2 Coaching Education Programme. It delivers 125 coach training hours with 17 hours of mentor coaching and qualifies graduates to apply for the ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC) credential. The Level 2 curriculum builds on the Level 1 foundation, extending the neuroscience framework into advanced coaching practice and preparing coaches for the depth of competency the PCC assessment requires.
Strengths Coaching Certification integrates strengths-based frameworks into The Academies' neuroscience-grounded coaching approach, drawing on the research traditions behind tools such as the CliftonStrengths assessment. Coaches learn to work explicitly with clients' strengths alongside their understanding of neurobiological states.
Impact Coaching Certification is The Academies' programme for coaches who want to deepen their practice and expand their scope beyond individual coaching into team, leadership, and organisational impact contexts.
Position in the Field
The Academies is positioned as an early adopter of neuroscience-informed coaching. It has integrated brain science into its curriculum since the early 2010s, well before neuroscience became a widespread selling point in the coaching education market. The organisation's claim to rigour rests not on volume or scale but on the depth and consistency with which brain science is embedded throughout the curriculum rather than added as a module or marketing element.
Its ICF Level 1 and Level 2 accreditation provides internationally recognised credentialing pathways to the ACC and PCC credentials, while the neuroscience specialisation gives The Academies a distinctive profile among ICF-accredited coach training providers. Graduates leave with ICF-aligned coaching competencies and a conceptual toolkit for understanding and working with the neurobiological dimension of the coaching relationship, a layer of knowledge that is increasingly valued in executive, leadership, and performance coaching contexts.
Training is delivered primarily online, and the organisation has trained coaches across the United States and internationally, with particular relevance for coaches working in corporate, leadership development, and executive coaching contexts where understanding the physiological and cognitive dimensions of performance under pressure is directly applicable to client work. In 2025, the International Coaching Federation recognised Susan Britton with its Coaching Impact Award, a distinction reflecting her sustained contribution to advancing brain-science-informed coach training over more than two decades.
When a leader is in the Red Zone, the brain's fight-flight state, they are cognitively compromised. In the Blue Zone of calm-connect, they access the mental and relational capacity that coaching depends on.
Questions about The Academies
Q.01What is The Academies?
What is The Academies?
The Academies is a US-based coach training organisation founded in 2001 by Susan Britton. It offers neuroscience-based, ICF-accredited coaching programmes built around the proprietary Red Zone | Blue Zone model, a framework that applies the science of neurobiological states to coaching practice. The organisation is approved by the International Coaching Federation (ICF) at both Level 1 (a pathway to the Associate Certified Coach credential) and Level 2 (a pathway to the Professional Certified Coach credential). The Academies is recognised as one of the early adopters of neuroscience-informed coach training in the field.
Q.02Who founded The Academies?
Who founded The Academies?
The Academies was founded in 2001 by Susan Britton, who serves as the organisation's founder and president. Britton has been training coaches since 2001 and has spent more than fifteen years researching neuroscience to develop the Red Zone | Blue Zone model that underpins the curriculum. In 2025 the ICF named her its Distinguished Coach Educator in the ICF Coaching Impact Awards. She is widely recognised as a pioneer of neuroscience-informed coaching practice in the coach training field.
Q.03What is the Red Zone | Blue Zone model?
What is the Red Zone | Blue Zone model?
The Red Zone | Blue Zone model is The Academies' proprietary framework for applying neuroscience to coaching. The Red Zone represents the brain's fight-or-flight threat state, in which the prefrontal cortex is compromised and the individual's capacity for rational thinking, creativity, empathy, and relational openness is reduced. The Blue Zone represents the calm-connect state, in which the nervous system is regulated and the individual has full access to the cognitive and relational resources needed for learning, behaviour change, and collaborative engagement. The model informs how coaches are trained to understand their own neurobiological state and their clients' states during the coaching interaction.
Q.04Is The Academies ICF-accredited?
Is The Academies ICF-accredited?
Yes. The Academies is ICF-accredited at both Level 1 and Level 2. The Level 1 programme delivers 68 coach training hours and qualifies graduates to apply for the ICF Associate Certified Coach (ACC) credential. The Level 2 programme delivers 125 coach training hours with 17 hours of mentor coaching and qualifies graduates to apply for the ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC) credential. The Level 1 and Level 2 designations indicate the programmes meet ICF's requirements for coach training hours, mentor coaching, core competency coverage, and programme quality.
Q.05What programmes does The Academies offer?
What programmes does The Academies offer?
The Academies' primary programmes include the Level 1 Career and Leadership Coach with Neuroscience Foundation (ICF Level 1 accredited, 68 hours, ACC pathway); the ICF Level 2 programme (125 hours, 17 hours of mentor coaching, PCC pathway); the Strengths Coaching Certification (integrating strengths-based frameworks with neuroscience); and the Impact Coaching Certification (for coaches expanding into team, leadership, and organisational impact contexts). All programmes are built on The Academies' neuroscience foundation and the Red Zone | Blue Zone model.
Q.06What makes The Academies different from other ICF-accredited programmes?
What makes The Academies different from other ICF-accredited programmes?
The Academies' differentiator is the systematic integration of neuroscience throughout the entire curriculum, as the conceptual framework through which coaching competencies are taught and understood rather than as an elective module. The Red Zone | Blue Zone model provides coaches with a scientific basis for understanding what is happening in the brain during the coaching interaction, giving them an additional layer of knowledge beyond the behavioural and relational frameworks that standard ICF competency training provides. The Academies is also among the earliest coach training organisations to make neuroscience integration central to its identity, predating the broader neuroscience trend in coaching education by well over a decade.
Q.07Who are The Academies' programmes designed for?
Who are The Academies' programmes designed for?
The Academies' programmes are designed for coaches and aspiring coaches who want a rigorous, science-grounded approach to coach training alongside ICF accreditation. The neuroscience focus is particularly relevant for coaches working in executive, leadership, corporate, and performance coaching contexts, where understanding the physiological and cognitive dimensions of performance under pressure, stress, and uncertainty directly applies to client work. The programmes are suitable both for coaches beginning their training and for experienced coaches looking to deepen their practice with a neuroscience lens.
Q.08Where is The Academies based?
Where is The Academies based?
The Academies is based in the United States and delivers its programmes primarily online, enabling participation from coaches internationally. The organisation was founded in 2001 and has been training coaches for more than 25 years across the US and internationally, with particular concentration in corporate, leadership, and executive coaching markets.
Q.09What does an ICF credential from The Academies tell me about a coach?
What does an ICF credential from The Academies tell me about a coach?
The ICF Associate Certified Coach (ACC) credential, earned through The Academies' Level 1 programme, confirms the coach completed 68 hours of ICF-approved training, passed the ICF Coaching Competency Assessment, and accumulated at least 100 hours of coaching experience with real clients. Coaches who complete the Level 2 programme are eligible for the Professional Certified Coach (PCC) credential, which requires 125 training hours and 500 coaching hours. At The Academies specifically, either credential also tells you the coach was trained in a neuroscience-informed framework, meaning they understand how neurobiological states affect the coaching conversation and their client's capacity for change. What it doesn't tell you: how many years they've been coaching since credentialing, whether their neuroscience knowledge has deepened in practice, or whether they specialise in your specific challenge area. Ask about ongoing professional development and how they actively apply the Red Zone | Blue Zone model in sessions.
Q.10What should I ask a coach trained at The Academies before hiring them?
What should I ask a coach trained at The Academies before hiring them?
Ask how they use the Red Zone | Blue Zone model in their actual coaching practice. A grounded, specific answer will reveal whether the neuroscience training shapes how they work or remains conceptual knowledge. Ask how they help a client who arrives in a reactive, overwhelmed state to access the calm and clarity needed for the session to be productive. Ask what ICF credential level they hold and how many coaching hours they've accumulated since training. Ask about their coaching niche: The Academies trains coaches across career, leadership, and executive contexts, so their specialisation matters for your fit. A sample discovery conversation is the most efficient way to assess whether the approach resonates with you directly.