EQ Coach Certification (EQCC)

Program overview

The EQ Coach Certification (EQCC) is the flagship coaching program of Six Seconds — The Emotional Intelligence Network, the world's largest EQ practitioner network, founded in 1997. The EQCC is an ICF Level 2 accredited program providing 224 hours of accredited coach education. It is the most extensive EQ-specific coaching certification on the market.

The EQCC trains coaches not only in ICF competency-based coaching skills, but in the specific application of emotional intelligence to the coaching conversation: how to help clients recognize and use emotions as information, build self-awareness and empathy, close the gap between intention and behavior, and sustain growth over time. Graduates earn the Certified EQ Coach credential from Six Seconds, certification to use the SEI (Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Assessment) with clients, and full documentation to apply for the ICF PCC credential via the Level 2 pathway.

An optional academic benefit distinguishes the EQCC from most coaching programs: graduates are eligible to transfer credits toward an MA or MBA at Antioch University. It is one of the few coach training programs with a formal graduate academic credit pathway.

Who it's for

• Coaches who want deep EQ specialization at the PCC level, combining emotional intelligence methodology with ICF Core Competency coaching

• Executive and leadership coaches who serve organizational clients and need a validated assessment tool to demonstrate measurable client change

• Coaches in healthcare, HR, L&D, or wellbeing who work with populations where emotional patterns drive outcomes

• Existing coaches with an ACC credential who want to build toward PCC through a differentiated EQ-focused program

• Those interested in graduate academic credit transfer, via the Antioch University MA/MBA pathway

• Coaches who want to belong to the world's largest EQ practitioner network and access Six Seconds' ongoing research and resource library

What you'll learn

Know Yourself, Choose Yourself, Give Yourself

Six Seconds' EQ model is organized around three pursuits that define emotional intelligence in practice. Know Yourself means developing awareness of emotional reactions, patterns, and triggers. Choose Yourself means using that awareness to act intentionally rather than reactively. Give Yourself means aligning choices with a larger sense of purpose and contribution. The coaching curriculum is structured around these three areas, with each building on the last.

ICF Core Competencies through an EQ lens

All 8 ICF Core Competencies are taught and practiced throughout the program, integrated with the emotional intelligence framework rather than run as parallel tracks. Coaches learn how to embody a coaching presence that is itself emotionally intelligent: present, attuned, curious, and regulating.

The SEI (Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Assessment)

Coaches are trained to administer and debrief the SEI (Six Seconds' proprietary EQ measurement tool) with individual clients, leaders, and teams. The SEI produces a before/after picture of a client's EQ profile, giving coaches a concrete measurement instrument to demonstrate change, justify engagements, and differentiate their practice.

Integrating EQ into the coaching practice

The EQCC teaches EQ and coaching as a single discipline. The program shows coaches how the emotional intelligence framework enhances every coaching conversation. Awareness of what is happening emotionally in the client and in the coaching relationship itself becomes a primary data stream in its own right.

Niche, marketing, and practice design

The program addresses the business of coaching directly. Modules on defining your niche, devising marketing strategies, and designing powerful client-centered solutions are integrated into the later phases, including dedicated group mentor coaching hours.

Mentoring and certification

Three group mentor coaching hours focused on EQ-ICF integration, plus one group mentor coaching hour focused on niche and practice design. The program concludes with personalized support and a final evaluation, where coaches demonstrate mastery and receive their Certified EQ Coach credential.

Credentials and accreditation

Completing the EQCC earns:

• Certified EQ Coach credential — Six Seconds' proprietary designation

• SEI certification — authorization to administer and debrief the Six Seconds EI Assessment with clients

• 224 ICF Level 2 accredited coaching education hours — meeting the PCC pathway training requirement

The EQCC is ICF Level 2 accredited, the higher of the standard two program tiers (Level 1 = ACC, Level 2 = PCC). Level 2 accreditation means graduates qualify to apply for the ICF PCC credential (requiring 500 coaching experience hours in addition to training). Six Seconds offers an expedited demonstration-of-competence process directly, which shortens the PCC application.

Note: ICF Level 2 accreditation means the EQCC qualifies for the PCC pathway, but coaches who are earlier in the credential process can also use the 224 hours toward ACC (which requires only 60+ training hours). The training hours exceed what is needed for ACC, giving newer coaches a credential pathway with significant room to grow into PCC.

Format, duration, and cost

• Delivery: hybrid and virtual learning platforms; live virtual sessions with expert faculty

• Total hours: 224 ICF Level 2 accredited hours

• Duration: multi-month; contact Six Seconds for current cohort schedules in your region

• Cost: pricing varies by region; contact Six Seconds at 6sec.org/contact or call 831-708-3151; regional partners handle enrollment and pricing in their markets

• Prerequisites: none specified for EQCC; note that the Level 1 ABCC pathway may be a natural entry point if you are new to Six Seconds' methodology

• Academic credit: eligible to transfer graduate credits toward an MA or MBA at Antioch University

What makes it distinctive

The EQCC's most important differentiator is structural: it is the only major ICF-accredited coaching program that includes an exclusive, proprietary assessment tool, the SEI, as a core component of the certification, not as a paid add-on. Every coach who completes the EQCC leaves with the ability to measure EQ in clients before and after engagement. For coaches building practices with organizational or corporate clients, this is a critical differentiator. Corporate clients increasingly want evidence of ROI, and a validated before/after EQ assessment makes that evidence concrete.

The 224 hours at ICF Level 2 also mean this is a genuine deep-dive rather than a two-day workshop with a certificate attached. The program's scope allows for iterative skill-building across multiple cohort cycles, with real client work, mentor feedback, and progressive complexity. That is what produces coaches who are actually different when they finish.

Finally, the Six Seconds global community gives graduates ongoing access to 25,000+ EQ practitioners, annual research data, and a publishing and resource library that continues to grow. For coaches who see EQ as a career-long specialty rather than a one-time credential, that community is substantively valuable.