Life Coach P.S.A.

The unregulated industry of “coaching” has recently caught my eye. I used to pay no mind to this industry, but over the last few months I couldn't help but notice an uptick in the amount of coaches selling their “transformational” methodologies. There was a time a few years ago, at least to me it seemed, that coaches accurately marketed themselves so their clients knew exactly what they were and were not receiving, Over the last few months marketing tactics in the coaching world seem to have shifted and with that shift, my respect for the industry has plummeted.

A while ago I sat with a colleague who said coaches now-a-days give her “scammy, MLM vibes.” I laughed and nodded profusely as she put words to feelings I couldn’t quite describe. I pulled out my phone to corroborate her declaration, and sure enough found these titles in the instagram bios of popular coaches:

“Neurological rewiring & transformation coach”

“Certified Mental Health Coach and Awakening Expert”

“Certified Applied Neurology Practitioner”

“High performance coach and mental transformation specialist.”

“Certified somatic trauma therapist” -> Yes this one actually called themselves a therapist. No, they do not have the degree or license required to practice therapy.

The scammy vibes I started to feel was due to the creativity in what coaches are calling themselves these days. These long-winded titles are more than a clever marketing tactic. They are exploitative.

As I went on to research more, I learned that people are paying thousands of dollars for a coach’s time and expertise. The “expertise” they are being promised, however, is self-declared and not actually legitimized through a regulatory board or standard set of procedures. This is dangerous for many reasons since anyone can proclaim themselves to be an expert in something. Their eye-catching websites and conclusive proclamations make it that much more difficult to discern who of these coaches are legit, and who is trying to get rich fast.

Psychologist Lorrain Bennington says many coaches veer into offering what is essentially therapy but with techniques and approaches not grounded in science and influenced by the coach’s personal agenda. Essentially, the equivalent to if you went to a really shitty therapist providing really shitty therapy.

Now before you all start coming for me, coaching in and of itself is not a bad thing. I actually believe it can be a great tool for certain situations and goals. However, it has its limitations - one of them being mental health. The problem is that anyone can get “certified” to become a coach in under an hour and then market themselves as a mental health expert. There is no academic requirement, clinical internship, supervision or governing board to ethically gatekeep their profession, a process that protects the integrity of a profession and the consumers who take part in it.

Without regulation and oversight, people are at risk of being exploited into shelling out large sums of money. Even more infuriating is the salesmanship coaches employ these days to convince people that what they offer is better than therapy. This wording is manipulative because it implies that the services they provide is therapeutic. I.E. suitable for mental health issues - plot twist, it’s not!

However, people can experience mental health benefits from a coach, and they do! However, suggesting it’s better than therapy is like saying your soccer coach is better suited to help you rehab your ACL tear than your physical therapist. The soccer coach can be a wonderful resource - necessary even, but not a substitute for therapy.

Professional negligence lawyer Tonya Walker warns life coaches that they could face legal prosecution for acting as a medical professional, including claiming to treat / heal mental health issues, INCLUDING trauma. She also advises coaches to be upfront with potential clients about the true scope of their knowledge and limitations. Having experienced a mental health issue or trauma yourself does not constitute anyone to be an expert in mental health or trauma recovery.

Last but not least, many coaches out there are also licensed therapists. Our field is regulated state-by-state, so adding a coaching certification enables therapists to see more clients across state lines. However, even these clinicians are at risk of medical malpractice if they are offering therapy under the guise of a coach.

To all the ethical coaches out there who will read this, thank you. I am sorry many of your counterparts are jeopardizing the legitimacy of your industry. But hopefully with more awareness the coaching industry will become more regulated so more clients are protected. To go back to the soccer analogy - even a soccer coach has to have some level of training / experience to be a legitimized coach. Okay, well, I guess Ted Lasso is an exception! But that’s TV, and THIS is real life and real people being affected by this unregulated industry.

Thanks :)