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Original poster

Any life coaches?!

25 replies

SuperMoonIsKeepingMeUpToo · 04/04/2022 17:32

Any life coaches here?

I'm a qualified teacher but now work for myself as a private tutor. I've become aware of the increased rate of anxiety and depression amongst the children I work with. Coincidentally a former teaching colleague is offering a life coach training program, specialising in teens and young adults. It's £5K.

I think I'd be good at it. I'm a good and active listener, have empathy and like young people. But I don't want to detract from my moderately successful tutor business.

Anyone who is a life coach got any advice? Is ,£5K in the right ball park? How long before I can see a return? Any other words of advice?

Love to hear from you!

OP posts:
Thingsdogetbetter · 04/04/2022 17:45

And what exactly are your ex-colleague's qualifications for running a life coach training programme? Is the course validated by any reputable organisation? How long is this training programme? Days, weeks, months? Add another £2k and you could get a Masters in youth counselling from a reputable university!

Anyone can call themselves a life coach and anyone can call themselves a life coach trainer. There's no need to fork out a ridiculous £5k on a course when you can just advertise yourself as a life coach seems pointless.

Hoppinggreen · 04/04/2022 17:48

What company is this with?
Sounds like a scam, a lot of these “life coaches” are basically mlm schemes

BalladOfBarryAndFreda · 04/04/2022 17:50

‘Life coaching’ is totally unregulated and largely populated by quacks and con artists. Approach with extreme caution

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

General education
NdefH81 · 04/04/2022 17:51

What’s the employment prospects?
The employment rate in this field following the course?

NdefH81 · 04/04/2022 17:52

Your colleague should be able to tell you this

My gut is… it sounds like fluff and froth

Gonnagetgoing · 04/04/2022 17:58

Life coaching in my experience is something lots of people think they can do well but very few actually can.

Having said that one of my mum’s friends started off life coaching but diversified into career coaching (specialising in education/teachers/head and deputy head teachers). She’s developed a very successful company and employs her own coaches now and when I did career coaching with her over first lockdown she was very good.

I do think that lots of people (including a best friend of mine) think they’ll make a great life coach because it’s touted as something most people can do with not much training. My friend though, sadly, has spent years in a toxic work environment and would be useless as a life coach because she’s very bad at moving on etc!

Clymene · 04/04/2022 17:59

Train as a careers advisor instead. Life coaching is baloney

MsFogi · 04/04/2022 18:06

I would have thought it would be pretty unethical (or negligent) to 'life coach' teenagers with depression and/or anxiety - they are children who need qualified counselling/therapy not life coaching!!!

NdefH81 · 04/04/2022 18:11

Life coaching is for employees of big corporates with large budgets

It is NOT for children and teenagers suffering from anxiety and depression

I suspect you are feeling desperate to leave OP, and you’re desperately floundering for options.

I think it would be a mistake to consider this as a sensible option

NdefH81 · 04/04/2022 18:13

No school is going to employ a life coach to address depression and anxiety amongst pupils

No parent is going to employ a life coach to address their child’s depression and anxiety

So who do you think will be your employer?

caulkheaded · 04/04/2022 18:16

I’m a therapist. It’s accredited to UKCP who ensure I’ve done my own therapy, have regular supervision and have completed the recommended qualifications. Is there something similar to this for life coaching- and does it set out who can/should work with? Especially the clinical supervision part.

fromcitytocountry · 04/04/2022 18:18

A school would not employ a life coach to work with their students. Even getting schools to pay for qualified counsellors is near on impossible, they just expect them to work for free.

FYI for the PP who mentioned about doing a year masters to be qualified, unfortunately it doesn't work like that with counselling. You're looking at an absolute minimum two years, realistically 3-4 before you're qualified and you need to have completed a placement of around 100 hours before you can become a registered member of a professional body and basically be employable as a counsellor

Thingsdogetbetter · 04/04/2022 18:27

@fromcitytocountry Thanks for the correction. That makes the life coach 'training' totally unlikely to be validated.

purpledagger · 04/04/2022 19:06

I'm not a life coach, but have done a few training sessions through work.

If young people have anxiety and depression, they need medical help, not a coach.

Also, I'm struggling to think who your target audience is and who would use your services. As a parent, I don't see what my children would get from coaching (although they are only 9 and 11, so my views could change). Also, as I'm sure you know, most schools are cash strapped, so I doubt it would be a priority.

You know your industry, so there may be a gap in the market for 'something' but you need to find it. A £5k course will be an unwise investment otherwise. I would be concerned the person running the course is selling a big con.

In the meantime, there are lots of models on line and videos, read up on them and practice on people you know as that could give you an idea as to whether you think it could be viable.

PiffleWiffleWoozle · 04/04/2022 19:15

If you want to do coaching training, I would strongly advise looking at a course recognised by one of the professional coaching bodies such as the ICF.

That way you know it is a good quality course, and if you want to gain a coaching credential that is the easiest route in terms of your training hours.

There are certainly skilled professionals doing coaching work with young people, and your experience working with this age group would be a plus. However it is a hugely competitive and not enormously well paid niche so you have to be really motivated to make a difference, and quite entrepreneurial to get started.

If you are taking a professional approach you will also need to pay for regular supervision with an experienced coach, CPD and credentialling, membership fees for ICF or similar etc - so factor these in to any business plan.

Original poster
SuperMoonIsKeepingMeUpToo · 04/04/2022 19:19

Thanks for your comments, everyone. Even if some were a bit rude and possibly better suited to AIBU.

I did actually state I wanted comments from existing life coaches but thanks anyway. Perhaps I should have been more explicit in my OP.

To those asking who about target audience, it would be families. I think often anxiety and depression stem from not being sure where life is heading and life coaches could help with that. But okay, maybe it is an froth and foam and people are quite right to be questioning about my former colleagues credentials (although that's not what I asked for advice about).

To the PP who said it sounded like I wanted out of what I'm doing at the moment - nothing could be further from the truth! I love what I do, am good at it and am in high demand. I just thought life coaching could be another string to my bow but worry about it detracting from my current role (I wouldn't want to give up the tutoring).

Anyway, if there are any life coaches out there I'd love to hear from you. Especially any that specialise in teens and young adults.

OP posts:
Original poster
SuperMoonIsKeepingMeUpToo · 04/04/2022 19:21

Thanks for your insightful response.

OP posts:
Original poster
SuperMoonIsKeepingMeUpToo · 04/04/2022 19:27

That last comment directed at PiffleWiffleWoozle!

OP posts:
brookstar · 04/04/2022 19:30

You'd be better of using that money to train as a careers adviser/careers coach.
You can get a postgraduate diploma from a university for that money and it's a reputable qualification.
Theres a real skills shortage of qualified careers advisers too and lots of organisations offering self employed contracts.

brookstar · 04/04/2022 19:32

And the situation you're describing is far better suited to a careers adviser rather than a life coach.

brookstar · 04/04/2022 19:35

A school would not employ a life coach to work with their students.

Absolutely.
However, as I mentioned a careers adviser is there to help people find direction and there is a legal and statutory duty for schools and colleges to give their young people access to an impartial careers adviser.
If you want to work with that age group then training to be a careers adviser is the way forward.

Original poster
SuperMoonIsKeepingMeUpToo · 04/04/2022 19:35

@brookstar

And the situation you're describing is far better suited to a careers adviser rather than a life coach.
You're probably right. Thanks!
OP posts:
thesandwich · 04/04/2022 19:36

Having worked with several excellent life coaches the essential premise of coaching is that you are working with a healthy individual who has the ability to find their own answers to their issues, not helping resolve anxiety and depression.
A good coach gives clients space to explore the dilemmas they face, and come up with their own answers using skilled questioning and reflection.
Any issues about anxiety and depression should always be referred to the appropriate trained professional( not a coach)

Gonnagetgoing · 04/04/2022 20:09

You can be a life coach for teens and young adults and it could be combined with career coaching. That would probably be the best way around it.

I would be careful though as others have said if these teens and young adults have anxiety, depression, mental health issues as lines could get blurred there and that requires specialist help.

purpledagger · 04/04/2022 20:32

Following on from my previous post, after I did a few courses through work, I considered setting up my own coaching business, this was about 10 years ago. I volunteered to coach some people though a charity, who liked the idea of coaching, but didn't have a formal set up and we agreed to give it a try.

I coached one lady who wanted to set up her own business, but her husband refused to help with their children, so she wasn't able to. I remember telling the charity that coaching wasn't the right support for many of these people I saw as their issues were much more complicated than coaching could provide.

I know your target client group is different and I'm not trying to put you off, what the experience made me realise is that most of the people who can afford coaching don't need it and the ones who do, often have bigger issues.

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