Certification Pathway

A Clear Route to Mastery

Becoming a skilled Duo Coaching practitioner isn’t something that happens in a weekend workshop. It requires the same depth, rigour, and commitment that you bring to your clinical work with couples. That’s why the Academy offers a structured three-level pathway that takes you from foundational understanding to expert practice — with supervision, community, and professional recognition at every stage.

The pathway is designed to mirror the book’s progression. If you’ve read A Practitioner’s Guide to Duo Coaching, you already have the theoretical grounding. The Academy is where that understanding becomes clinical skill.

Foundation Level: Building Your Vessel

The foundation is everything. Without it, even the most talented practitioner will struggle to deliver the depth of work this approach requires.

The Foundation Programme is your entry point into the Duo Coaching Framework. It’s designed for experienced practitioners who are ready to understand a fundamentally different way of working with couples — and to begin preparing for supervised clinical practice.

What You’ll Learn

• The theoretical and research foundations of the Duo Coaching model
• The Relationship Paradigm: six elements of relationship health and how to assess them
• Why intensive, extended sessions produce different outcomes from traditional formats
• The principles and practice of co-therapy partnerships
• Session structure, assessment protocols, and between-session frameworks
• Ethical considerations specific to intensive relationship work

Training Format

The Foundation Programme combines self-paced online learning with live workshops and interactive seminars. You’ll work through the core material at your own pace, then come together with your cohort for facilitated discussion, demonstration, and practice.

• Self-paced online modules hosted on the Academy platform
• Live workshops (in-person or virtual options available)
• Set reading including the Routledge practitioners’ guide
• Practice exercises and reflective assignments
• Knowledge assessment

Prerequisites

• A postgraduate qualification (or equivalent) in counselling, psychotherapy, psychology, or a closely related discipline
• Current membership of a recognised professional body (e.g. BACP, UKCP, NCPS, BPS, HCPC, or international equivalent)
• A minimum of two years’ post-qualifying clinical experience
• Current professional indemnity insurance

Duration & Investment

40–60 hours over 3–6 months. Flexible pacing to fit alongside your existing practice.

Outcome

Foundation Certificate in Duo Coaching, confirming your understanding of the framework and readiness for supervised practice. This is your gateway to the Intermediate Programme.

Intermediate Level: Developing Clinical Competence

This is where understanding becomes ability. The Intermediate Programme is the heart of your development as a Duo Coaching practitioner.

The Intermediate Programme is where theory meets practice. With your Foundation Certificate in hand and a co-therapy partner established, you’ll begin working with couples under supervision — developing the clinical skills, integrative fluency, and professional confidence that define effective Duo Coaching practitioners.

What You’ll Learn

• Advanced integrative techniques: IFS parts work, Gestalt two-chair, Satir sculpting, family constellations, hypnotherapy, and more
• Working with the unconscious: patterns, projections, and the relational field
• Assessment depth: multi-tool intake protocols and tracking change over time
• Managing complexity: infidelity, attachment injuries, cultural dynamics, power imbalances
• The co-therapy relationship: communication, debriefing, navigating difference, and modelling collaboration
• Between-session work: designing homework, logbooks, and reflective exercises that accelerate progress

Training Format

The Intermediate Programme is a hybrid of advanced teaching, residential intensive training, and supervised clinical practice. You’ll work with a minimum of five to ten couples under the guidance of an approved supervisor, with regular group and individual supervision sessions.

• Advanced online modules and recorded demonstrations
• Residential intensive training (four to five days)
• Supervised practice with couples (minimum five to ten)
• Monthly group supervision
• Case presentations (minimum three)
• Peer learning community

Prerequisites

• Completion of the Foundation Programme
• A co-therapy partnership established (the Academy can assist with matching)
• Commitment to supervised clinical practice over the programme duration

Duration & Investment

100–150 hours over 12–18 months, including supervised practice hours.

[Insert pricing when confirmed — suggest range: £3,000–£3,500. Payment plans available.]

Outcome

Intermediate Certificate and licence to practise as a Duo Coaching practitioner. This is the professional credential that authorises you to use the Duo Coaching methodology, branding, and proprietary materials with clients.

Expert Level: Mastery and Leadership

Expert practitioners don’t just deliver excellent clinical work. They advance the field, support others, and contribute to the evidence base that makes this approach credible.

The Expert Programme is for accomplished Intermediate-certified practitioners who want to deepen their mastery and take on leadership roles within the Duo Coaching community. This is where clinical excellence meets professional contribution.

What You’ll Develop

• Complex case competence: working with high-conflict couples, trauma presentations, neurodivergence, and multi-layered relational difficulties
• Supervision skills: learning to supervise and support other Duo Coaching practitioners
• Teaching capability: contributing to Foundation and Intermediate programme delivery
• Research and evaluation: contributing to the growing evidence base through practice-based research and case study publication
• Professional leadership: ethical mastery, boundary sophistication, and sustainable practice development

Training Format

• Expert seminars and masterclasses
• Advanced supervision training
• Teaching practicum within the Academy
• Research or case study project
• Ongoing advanced supervision

Prerequisites

• Completion of the Intermediate Programme
• Supervised practice with twenty or more couples demonstrating competence across diverse presentations
• Recommendation from an approved supervisor

Duration & Investment

80–120 hours over 18–24 months.

[Insert pricing when confirmed — suggest range: £5,000–£6,500. Payment plans available.]

Outcome

Expert Certification in Duo Coaching. Expert practitioners are eligible to become approved supervisors, contribute to Academy programme delivery, and are recognised as senior members of the Duo Coaching professional community.