Coach training comes with its own vocabulary: ICF, ACC, PCC, mentor coaching, Level 1 and Level 2. This glossary defines each term in plain language, together with the terms RSCI uses for its own programmes, so you can compare training routes knowing exactly what each word means.
RSCI
The Robert Simic Coaching Institute, based in Dubai, UAE: the institute for those called to deliver this work. RSCI trains coaches and practitioners in the RS Method, Robert Simic's body of work, through two certification programmes with ICF education pathways included. It's also the legal home of the RS Method.
ICF
The International Coaching Federation. It accredits coach education and awards its own credentials, among them the ACC and PCC, which only the ICF can award. An ICF credential tells clients and organisations that a coach has met ICF's published standards for education, experience and assessment.
ICF accreditation
RSCI holds ICF accreditation. The ICF-accredited education inside our programmes is designed, delivered and certified by the Institute of Coaching and Mentoring (IICM), an ICF-accredited organisation. The ACC and PCC credentials are awarded only by the ICF. The full account: robertsimiccoachinginstitute.com/accreditation
ACC
Associate Certified Coach, the first ICF credential. ICF lists 60 hours of coaching education, 100 hours of coaching experience including at least 75 paid hours, 10 hours of mentor coaching over three months, a performance evaluation and a passing score on the ICF ACC Exam (checked on coachingfederation.org on 19 October 2026). The credential is awarded only by the ICF.
PCC
Professional Certified Coach, the ICF credential above the ACC. ICF lists 125 hours of coaching education, 500 hours of coaching experience including at least 450 paid hours, 10 hours of mentor coaching, a performance evaluation and a passing score on the ICF Credentialing Exam (checked on coachingfederation.org on 19 October 2026). Like the ACC, the PCC is awarded only by the ICF.
ICF Level 1 education
ICF-accredited coach education at the first level, the education route toward the ACC credential. At RSCI, the ICF Level 1 education pathway is included inside RS Method Coach. Completing it gives you the education the ACC requires; the credential itself comes from the ICF.
ICF Level 2 education
ICF-accredited coach education at the second level, a deeper route that leads to the ACC or the PCC. At RSCI, the ICF Level 2 education pathway is included inside RS Method Complete, leading to ACC or PCC. An ACC-first route exists for those who want it.
Mentor coaching
Feedback on your coaching against the ICF Core Competencies, from a qualified mentor coach. An ICF credential needs 10 hours over at least three months, three of them one to one. On its Mentor Coach Specialization (MCS) page, ICF says "Beginning January 1, 2027, all ICF credential candidates must work with a mentor coach who has earned the MCS designation."
RS Method Coach
RSCI's Life Coach Certification programme. It includes the ICF Level 1 education pathway. Mostly online and self-paced, with included live training days. AED 18,000 with the ICF education included, or AED 15,000 for the RS Method only. Every route in starts with a free conversation with Sara.
RS Method Complete
RSCI's advanced programme. It includes the ICF Level 2 education pathway, leading to ACC or PCC, and the full 5-Day RS Method Experience in Dubai, included rather than added on top. AED 35,000 with the ICF education included, or AED 29,000 for the RS Method only. It's mostly online, with the five days in person in Dubai.
ICF upgrade
The route for RS Method graduates who trained without the ICF education and want it now. It adds the ICF education pathway to an existing RS Method certification: AED 7,500 for Level 1 and AED 11,000 for Level 2. Details and the next step are on the ICF upgrade page.
Programme and pathway
Two words RSCI keeps apart. A programme is one of the institute's two certifications, RS Method Coach and RS Method Complete. A pathway is the ICF Level 1 or Level 2 education included inside a programme. Pathways are never sold as separate parallel tracks. RS Method graduates may add the ICF education later and pay only the difference.
The ACC-first route
An option inside RS Method Complete. The programme's ICF Level 2 education pathway leads to the ACC or the PCC, and an ACC-first route exists for practitioners who want to earn the ACC before going further. Sara talks through whether it fits, together with the route and payment plan, in the free conversation.
The RSCI razor
"To witness. To hold. To walk them home." The three trained capacities of an RSCI practitioner: to receive what's in the room without interpreting it, to contain it without flinching, fixing or rushing, and to walk alongside the client back to themselves. It's the standard every graduate is measured against.
The Inner Work First Principle
RSCI's founding principle: the practitioner is transformed before the practitioner is trained. You do your own work first, inside the cohort, under supervision, alongside the methodology you're learning to deliver. By the time you graduate, the room you walk into is one you've already been held inside yourself.
The free conversation with Sara
How every route into RSCI starts: a free Zoom with Sara, our veteran RS Method Master Coach, 20 to 40 minutes. It's open to anyone genuinely interested, with no prerequisites. The conversation establishes which of the two programmes fits you and shapes the route. You book it on the apply page.
The Coach-Readiness Assessment
"Are You Ready To Hold This Work?", RSCI's free online assessment for people who have decided to train and are now asking which institute. It's a 21-question quiz of about 90 seconds that shows you the version of you showing up to this work, such as the called, the wounded healer or the plateaued.
Why 88% of Life Coaches Fail
Robert Simic's free book for people still deciding whether to become a coach at all. Rewritten for the current institute, it's free to read online, with an audio narration by Robert and a designed PDF. It meets you before the question of which institute, at the question of whether.
RS Method Master Coach
A senior practitioner who graduated through Robert's training and now holds client work directly. Master Coaches work one on one with people in Robert's live rooms, the 5-Day RS Method Experience among them. Sara, who leads every free conversation into RSCI, is one of Robert's veteran Master Coaches.
Unbecoming and remembering
The two movements of the RS Method, the body of work RSCI trains you to deliver. Unbecoming: the patterns, inherited noise and layered identities come off. Remembering: what was always there underneath becomes available again. At RSCI you learn to guide both for others, after going through them yourself.