Free ICF ACC Exam Flashcards

Purpose; ICF Core Values and Ethical Principles; Commitments for All Within the ICF Ecosystem; Ethical Standards for ICF Professionals; and the Pledge of Ethics — plus an appendix of key definitions and a glossary.

Five sections: (1) Agreements for Client and/or Sponsor Engagement, (2) Confidentiality and Legal Compliance, (3) Professional Conduct and Conflicts of Interest, (4) Commitment to Delivering Consistent Value, (5) Professional Integrity and Accountability.

Sections 2 (Confidentiality and Legal Compliance) and 3 (Professional Conduct and Conflicts of Interest) each contain 8 standards — the largest of the five sections in the current Code.

The final part of the Code — a personal commitment an ICF professional makes to uphold their ethical obligations and represent the integrity of coaching and the ICF in every professional interaction.

A commitment to a coaching mindset and professional quality — responsibility, respect, integrity, competence, and excellence in every interaction.

A commitment to developing social connection and community building — partnering with clients, sponsors, and other coaching professionals rather than working in isolation.

A commitment to being humane, kind, compassionate, and respectful toward others — including accepting one's own imperfections and continuously developing self-awareness.

A commitment to using a coaching mindset to understand others' needs so the coach can practice equitable, non-discriminatory processes that create equality for all.

Confidentiality is not absolute — Standard 2.3 requires a clear prior agreement about what must be disclosed to authorities, including situations with imminent or likely risk of danger to self or others.

Standard 3.6 requires you to be mindful of intimacy in the coaching relationship; you must not enter a sexual or romantic relationship with a client, and if you detect a shift, you must take action to address it or end the engagement.

A potential conflict of interest (Standards 3.1–3.3) — you must disclose the relationship to all parties and manage or resolve it through self-reflection, agreement, or, if necessary, ending the professional relationship.

Standard 3.8 requires you to disclose to the client any compensation paid or received for referrals — transparency about referral fees is a specific ethical standard, not just good practice.

Standard 3.7 requires disclosure when you are acting in a capacity other than an ICF professional — clients must know which role you are performing at any given time.

Standard 2.6 makes the ICF professional responsible for ensuring support personnel also adhere to the confidentiality standards of the Code of Ethics.

The philosophy of 'doing good' versus merely 'avoiding bad' — recognizing the impact of one's professional conduct on clients, stakeholders, the coaching profession, and society at large.

Partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.

Because the client — not the coach — generates the agenda, insights, and solutions; the coach's role is to partner in a process, not to direct the content.

The client sets the goals and owns the outcomes, and clients are responsible for their own choices; the coach facilitates the client's thinking rather than imposing an outside agenda.

In coaching, the client generates their own answers through a partnering process. In mentoring, an expert shares their own experience, advice, and field-specific guidance.

A coach is a process expert who helps the client discover and own the solution. A consultant is a content expert who diagnoses the problem and prescribes a solution.

Coaching is present- and future-focused growth work with functioning clients. Therapy is past- and healing-focused treatment of diagnosed mental health conditions, delivered by licensed professionals.

Training transfers specific skills or knowledge from an expert instructor to a learner. Coaching does not teach content; it evokes the client's own thinking and awareness.

Stay in the coaching role — ask a powerful question that helps the client evaluate the decision themselves, rather than giving the answer, which would shift you into consulting.

No — evaluating and reporting on someone's performance to a third party is not coaching; it crosses into assessment/consulting and requires transparency about your role (Ethical Standard 3.7).

Refer the client to a licensed mental health professional — persistent depression is a clinical condition beyond the coaching scope of practice.

Refer promptly to a licensed trauma specialist or therapist — processing trauma is treatment, not coaching, even though the disclosure happened inside a coaching conversation.

Refer immediately to appropriate mental health/crisis resources and follow your safety protocol — this is the clearest referral red flag and overrides continuing the session as usual.

Refer to a qualified substance-abuse specialist or program — dependency treatment is outside a coach's scope, even if the client wants to talk it through in session.

Maintain the distinctions between coaching, consulting, therapy, and other support professions, and refer the client to an appropriate support professional as needed.

Coachable stress is situational and the client remains functional and future-focused; a referral-worthy condition involves diagnosis-level symptoms, safety risk, or an inability to engage productively in the present/future-focused coaching process.

Understands and consistently applies coaching ethics and the standards of coaching — the foundation competency underlying every other competency.

Develops and maintains a mindset that is open, curious, flexible, and client-centered, including ongoing reflective practice and self-development.

Both operate beneath every coaching interaction — ethics and mindset are prerequisites the coach brings to the relationship, not situational techniques used only within a session.

Partners with the client and stakeholders to create clear agreements about the coaching relationship, process, plans, and goals — at both the engagement and session level.

Partners with the client to create a safe, supportive environment that allows the client to share freely, built on mutual respect and trust.

Is fully conscious and present with the client, using a style that is open, flexible, grounded, and confident — including comfort with silence and 'not knowing.'

The coach partnering with the client to identify or reconfirm what the client wants to accomplish in that specific session — part of Establishes and Maintains Agreements.

Focuses on what the client is and is not saying to fully understand what is being communicated in the context of the client's systems, supporting client self-expression.

Facilitates client insight and learning using tools and techniques such as powerful questioning, silence, metaphor, or analogy.

It is open-ended, evocative, and client-focused — it helps the client explore beyond their current thinking rather than leading them toward the coach's own conclusion.

Silence gives the client space to process, reflect, and generate their own insight — under Maintains Presence and Evokes Awareness, the coach deliberately allows the pause rather than filling it.

Notice and name the incongruence between the client's words and tone/body language (part of Listens Actively) — reflect what you are observing and invite the client to say more, rather than taking the words at face value.

Partners with the client to transform learning and insight into action, promoting client autonomy throughout the coaching process.

The client. Facilitates Client Growth requires acknowledging and supporting client autonomy in designing their own goals, actions, and accountability measures.

Partner with the client to summarize learning and integrate progress, and close the relationship in a way that respects the client and the coaching experience.

Both assess the same eight core competencies, but PCC Markers are the detailed behavioral indicators used to evaluate recorded PCC-level sessions, while ACC MSR is the 'Behaviors Consistent' checklist used for ACC-level performance evaluations — a lighter-touch, foundational bar.

ACC reflects foundational, consistent competence across the eight competencies; PCC reflects more nuanced, deeper, and consistent demonstration of the same competencies — not different competencies, just a different depth bar.

60+ hours of ICF-accredited coach-specific training and 100+ hours of coaching experience with at least 8 clients, of which 75+ hours must be paid.

At least 10 hours of mentor coaching over a minimum of 3 months, provided by a mentor coach who holds a PCC or MCC credential.

Every 3 years, requiring 40 Continuing Coach Education Units (CCEUs) total, including a minimum of 24 in Core Competencies and 3 in Ethics.