Elementum Coaching Institute

A Comprehensive Coach Training
& Certification Institute

2021–2024

From 2021–2024, Elementum Coaching Institute trained and certified more than 350 coaches around the world through an immersive professional coach-training program designed to develop skilled, confident and embodied coaches.

Founded by Alexi Panos, Christine Hassler, Preston Smiles and Stefanos Sifandos, Elementum brought together more than 50 years of the founders’ combined coaching, training and professional experience.

While Elementum Coaching Institute is no longer accepting new students or offering certification programs, we remain incredibly proud of the coaches who completed the program and continue to bring their training into their work and communities today.

The Elementum Approach

Training the whole coach to work with the whole person.

Elementum was created from the belief that great coaching cannot be reduced to one formula, methodology or set of scripted questions.

We wanted Elementum coaches to have a broad range of tools and frameworks so they could listen deeply, ask better questions, recognize patterns and meet the individual in front of them rather than trying to fit every client into the same coaching model.

The Elementum curriculum brought together coaching methodologies, personal-development frameworks, somatic practices and transformational tools into one comprehensive training.

Students learned not only coaching tools and techniques, but how to develop greater presence, discernment and confidence in applying what they learned.

A Multidisciplinary Coaching Education

Elementum was designed to give coaches a broad and holistic foundation rather than train them in one singular coaching method.

The curriculum drew from a wide range of disciplines, modalities and approaches, including:

  • Somatic Release Techniques
  • Emotional Intelligence
  • Parts Work
  • Inner Child Work
  • Neuroscience-Based Modalities and Nervous System Awareness
  • Experiential Learning
  • Psychology — Developmental, Positive, Intrapersonal, Evolutionary and Cognitive
  • Trauma Release Techniques & Practices
  • Neuro-Linguistic Programming
  • Conflict Management
  • Spiritual Wisdom
  • Breathwork
  • Facilitation Techniques
  • Sexual Embodiment
  • Masculine / Feminine Energetics

Our coaching model was built around the belief that if you change your paradigm, you change your life. Students were taught an inclusive framework that explored a client’s relationship to the past, the body, thoughts and emotions, relationships with others, and life itself.

Embodiment was central to the Elementum philosophy. Students were not only learning tools to use with clients; they were also encouraged to examine their own patterns, triggers and experiences and to integrate the work personally so they could become more present, discerning and effective coaches.

The intention was not to teach coaches to mechanically apply techniques, but to give them a broad range of tools, frameworks and experiences they could draw from depending on the individual client in front of them.

Training That Went Beyond Coursework

Elementum was designed as an immersive seven-month training and certification program, not simply a collection of self-paced courses.

The program included:

  • Weekly live content clinics
  • Weekly coaching immersions
  • Coaching practice with observation and feedback
  • Master Coach Q&A and mentoring
  • Faculty support
  • Video and written training modules
  • Coaching trios for practice and integration
  • Peer community and support
  • Quizzes and open-ended assessments
  • Recorded demonstrations of coaching skills
  • A final certification examination

Students were expected to learn the material, practice what they were learning and demonstrate their understanding and application of the curriculum.

To earn the designation Elementum Certified Coach, participants were required to complete the program requirements and pass the final certification examination with a score of at least 80 percent.

More Than 350 Coaches Trained & Certified

Between 2021 and 2024, more than 350 coaches completed the Elementum training and certification process.

Our graduates have gone on to apply their training in their own coaching practices and across a variety of professional and personal-development settings.

Although Elementum Coaching Institute no longer offers new certification cohorts, the Elementum Certified Coach designation reflects completion of the Institute’s training and certification requirements during its years of operation.

We remain proud of our graduates and the work they continue to bring into the world.

Our Co-Founders

Alexi Panos

Alexi Panos

Alexi Panos is a Master Embodiment Coach, author, artist, and humanitarian with nearly two decades of experience guiding transformation at the intersection of somatics, nervous system science, and spiritual growth. She is the co-creator of The Bridge Method and the nine-month Embodied Facilitator certification, where she trains coaches and leaders to facilitate the kind of change that goes deeper than mindset and actually reorganizes how a person lives in their body, their relationships, and their work. Her methodology weaves trauma-informed somatic practice, energetics, and embodied leadership into an approach that has shaped coaches, facilitators, and communities around the world.

She is the author of two books, host of the WOMAN podcast, and founder of E.P.I.C., a nonprofit bringing clean water to communities in the developing world.

Christine Hassler

Christine Hassler

Christine Hassler is a coach, facilitator, speaker, author and podcast host with more than two decades of experience in personal development. She holds a Master’s degree in Spiritual Psychology and her work integrates coaching, personal development, inner-child work, emotional intelligence and her own experience and methodology. She is the best-selling author of three books, most recently Expectation Hangover: Free Yourself From Your Past, Change Your Present and Get What You Really Want.

She is also the host of the top-rated podcast “Life Coaching with Christine Hassler” where she coaches people live on the show. Christine is known globally for her ability to identify what is holding someone back and compassionately guiding them to clarity. She has appeared on The Today Show, CNN, ABC, CBS, FOX, E!, Style and The New York Times. Christine believes once we get out of our own way, we can show up to make the meaningful impact we are here to make.

Preston Smiles

Preston Smiles

Preston Smiles is a serial entrepreneur, bestselling author, and founder of one of the fastest growing embodied leadership movements in the world.

He is the co-founder of The Bridge Experience and Embodied Facilitator, where he trains leaders and coaches to break unconscious patterns and help others do the same.

A former surf instructor turned multimillionaire entrepreneur, Preston has spent the last 20 years helping hundreds of thousands of people transform their lives and relationships. His work has generated over 100 million views online and built a community of more than 350,000 followers on Instagram.

Stefanos Sifandos

Stefanos Sifandos

Stefanos Sifandos is an author and transformational coach who has spent 25 years working privately with some of the world’s highest performers — Olympians, world champions, CEOs, military operators, and entrepreneurs. His work sits at the intersection of behavioral science, trauma resolution, and spiritual truth. He doesn’t work with many people. He works with the right ones — those who have built everything and are finally ready to discover what lives underneath it.

His latest book is Tuned In and Turned On: A Path to True Connection, Deep Healing, and Lasting Love.

Together, the four co-founders brought their individual experience, methodologies and perspectives together to create the Elementum curriculum and certification experience.