In this YouTube video, licensed therapist and certified Christian life coach Shakeela Torres (who also identifies as a prophetess and marketplace minister) addresses three common misconceptions about Christian life coaching that she encountered in an email inquiry. She first introduces herself and her multifaceted role as a daughter of God, therapist, coach, and prophet. Myth #1: Christian life coaches don’t need formal training. Shakeela explains that effective coaching combines professional expertise with Holy Spirit guidance. She describes her own 6‑module Empower Purpose Academy certification program, detailing the first five modules (skill‑building, assessments, communication, active listening, tools) and a sixth module focused on Holy Spirit‑led counseling (dream interpretation, healing, deliverance). She emphasizes that rigorous education is essential, just as it is for therapists. Myth #2: Christian life coaching is merely superficial advice. She argues that certified coaches provide deep work on habits, thought patterns, and spiritual hindrances, not just casual counsel. She outlines her own background of 20 years studying the Bible, prophetic listening, and mental wellness, and notes that her program integrates secular coaching techniques with a distinct Holy Spirit component. Myth #3: Christian life coaching should be free because it relies only on biblical principles. Shakeela counters that coaching is a business that incurs costs for training, resources, and ministry operations, and that charging for services is appropriate. She shares anecdotes of clients who felt led by the Lord to work with her and discusses pricing as a matter of stewardship. She concludes by urging viewers to vet potential coaches by asking about training, reviewing testimonials, and seeking divine confirmation. She promotes her website (empowerpurposeacademy.com), certification courses, books, the Faith and Mental Wellness Directory, podcast, and summit replay as additional resources, and invites viewers to subscribe.
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Hello, my name is Shakeeta Torres and welcome back to my YouTube channel. And so I also have this on my Facebook page as well, so thank you and welcome. And today we're going to talk about 3 myths about Christian life coaching. This message today was inspired by an email that I had gotten from someone, uh,, about Christian life coaching. Um, this person was interested in getting certified, but in her email, um, she shared this with me. I'm going to read it so you guys can truly understand where I'm going with this message on today. She said, I have heard pastors in particular, um, their pastor/prophet say that he does not like Christian life coaches because people should not pay someone to tell them what God can already tell them. And I have heard people say that it is wrong to charge people to do work like this. What is your take on being rejected by the church and on taking payment for, for practically only using biblical principles and helping people to heal? That is a great question. And so I said, you know, let me go ahead and put this on my, my list, my to-do list of videos of questions that I get because I want to address that today. And so if I have not introduced myself, sorry, my name is Shakeeta Torres. I am a licensed therapist. I'm also a certified Christian life coach, and I wear many hats, okay? But most importantly, I am a daughter of God, okay? I am God's mouthpiece as well, so I flow also prophetically, and I also do Marketplace Ministry, which is also my business, my kingdom business. Okay, so I want to go over today, um, again, 3 different myths that I want to address when it comes to Christian life coaches. And so I will read to you, um, what I sent to her first. Um, the first thing that comes up for me upon reading your email is this: People perish for lack of knowledge. Hosea 4:6. A Christian life coach is not only hearing God, but they are supposed to be combining their skill set and expertise along with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our guide, but just like the word of God, he needs something to pull from, which is your education. I said I can only speak for myself and my students. But I'm highly trained in a lot of different areas as a licensed therapist and a life coach. And I'm also God's prophetess and servant, okay? And so I also share a previous video I did, um, about what is, um, the difference between a life coach, a therapist, and a mentor, because many people do not know what the difference is. And so myth number one, as I said, just said in this email to to her is that Christian life coaches need to have training, okay? I can speak for myself and for my program, and my students will tell you this. My program is 6 modules. Each module is very robust and very detailed. It has taken them at least 6 to 8 weeks, some of them 9 depending on their time, to complete my program because it's very detailed. The first 5 modules is focused on skill building, assessments, how to communicate with your client, how to engage in active listening, tools, resources, different things they need to make sure they're able to help their client. Honestly, anyone can take that particular component if you're not a Christian, all right? But I prefer for people who are Christians to be a part of my program, okay? And then Module 6, I call it Holy Spirit-led counseling, where I am digging deep into hearing God, right? Understanding how to interpret dreams and visions, understanding between healing and deliverance, and so much more. My program is robust. Every single last one of my students has nothing to say— nothing but good things to say about my program, okay? And so with that being said, that is not what Christian life coaching is, okay? We are looking at your habits, We're looking at your thought patterns. We're looking at, you know, things that may be in your way. And there are different types of life coaches as well. I'll do a separate video on 25 different niches you can have as a Christian life coach, okay? And not only that, my program has helped, you know, my students to discover their own personal purpose. So yes, they are certified Christian life coaches, but they're also able to apply what they've learned in their ministry at their churches. They're able to apply, and they're able to be even self-aware about their own thought patterns, um, areas that God wants to take them higher in, and so much more. There's no way I can explain everything to you, but I'll put the link in the description for you to go and read some of their testimonials. Some of them did videos, some of them did, um, you know, a written out testimonial as well for you to look at, okay? And so with that being said, that's not true. Life coaching is not just hearing what God is saying. Yes, it's powerful. It's great. You need to have that. But God needs something to pull from. And as a licensed therapist, it's the same thing. I had to go to school. I had to get education. And yes, you know, being a therapist is definitely a lot more intense than being a life coach when it comes to the training. But it's a reason why. But again, I'll put that video for you in the description. Okay. Um, The second one, the second myth here is that Christian life coaching is only, um, superficial help, um, meaning that they're just giving you advice. You're just going to people, um, to someone just to get advice where you can go to a friend. That's not true. If a Christian life coach has training and certification from a place where they're reputable, then they are offering and bringing more than that to the table. Okay, not only that, the program that I have, I had to become a certified coach trainer, meaning that I am very particular about making sure that I'm equipped spiritually and making sure that I'm equipped in the natural for me to be able to help my clients. What does that look like? So in the natural, I'm doing my research, I'm studying, I'm enrolled in courses, I'm enrolled in you know, uh, different trainings as a life coach and the therapist for me to be able to really help people and to train others to do the same thing. And so I had to go through an academy myself, institute, where they trained me to be a coach trainer, and I had to get the program from them. But then I had to take the program and I had to rearrange it and adjust it to to fit what it is and the vision that God gave me. So her program was primarily focused on just secular life coaching. I had to go in and add in the Holy Spirit-led piece based off of my experience, based off of my expertise and my knowledge of where I am with God himself, okay? And with that, I have spent the past 20 years of my life learning God, studying the word, understanding how to hear his voice, understanding how to interpret dreams and visions, understanding how to be led by him, what to say, what not to say, healing, deliverance, and the list goes on. And so no, you are not paying a life coach to just give you advice and to just prophesy to you. That's not the case at all. For me, I'm focused on your patterns, your thought patterns. What's hindering you in life? What's hindering your relationship with God? And can you get some of those things from your pastor or from another minister? Absolutely you can. But we are all trained and equipped in different areas. And so if we are taking out time to make sure we equipped and we investing in our business, okay, you have to have a business to be able to operate as a life coach or work under someone who has one. It costs money. It costs us finances and funds to be able to do these things. And so my prayer is that this video has helped you to debunk some myths that you may have about Christian life coaching. If you come across someone that you, you know, find that you want to work with, I encourage you to ask them questions about their training. I encourage you to look at testimonials. I encourage you to ask the Lord, you know, should this person be someone I should work with? I've had clients as a therapist and a life coach come to me saying, the Lord told me to come work with you, what are your prices? The Lord instructed me, hey, she has what you need, okay, what are your prices? Okay, and there's some that God told that to and they were disobedient for whatever reason. That's not my business, that's between them and the Lord. So again, thank you so much for watching. Um, be sure to visit www.empowerpurposeacademy.com to learn more about out my programs. I've had certification courses. If you are a Christian leader, you are a Christian life coach, if you are a therapist, to expand your knowledge and your education, um, in the realm of faith and mental wellness. Um, you can also look at my books. I have so many books, you guys, so many books. Now I'm still writing books, um, that you can check out as well. I also, um, have the Faith and Mental Wellness Directory. These are people who are providing faith-based services. Also the Faith and Mental Wellness Podcast. Cast. So excited about that. And also the Faith and Mental Wellness Summit replay. So God has equipped me and he has called me to be a resource for the body of Christ, okay, for his glory and for his kingdom and for his people to be free, okay. So again, I'm gonna let you go, I promise, and I'll talk to you the next time. All right, bye-bye. Oh yeah, and be sure to subscribe and hit the button. Okay, talk to you soon. Bye.
