To think “life coaches” really are something else

[Romax]

I just don’t get it.
How someone can be so very sure that they have nailed “life” that they can actually coach others and charges for their “life expertise”

I’m thinking specifically of two women in my affluent SE town (perhaps it is a regional “thing”?) who have just set up a life coaching business. I just can’t work out how they would reach the conclusion that they are such a success in life that they can help others achieve what they have achieved (setting up a life coaching business!)

Am I BU to think that you really must think a lot of yourself to do this? Or have people genuinely benefited from life coaching services?

You don't need to listen to me at all. I listen to you and reflect back to you what I hear so you can get more clarity on what you want and need

God that’s so damn woolly you could put it in a field and call it dolly 🐑

The fundamental flaw is the protracted sessions eg all that listening as the fees mount,and it’s steeped in psychobabble.

workplace coaching its different,that’s usually organisation own HR staff with existing CIPD accreditation who are using coaching with staff to attain shared organisational goals,develop potential etc. It starts from basis of you have a job with skill set how can that be developed

Life coach unregulated and a lot of poor quality practitioners out there

please don't confuse life coaches with careers advisers, who are educated to postgraduate/masters level, are doing a professional job in schools/colleges/universities and local offices.

We adhere to a code of ethics etc. We are professionals, life coaches are not. Please do not confuse us.

"I know someone who is a careers advisor at a uni and loves it! Varied, interesting job helping people"

I don't think careers advisors at unis, schools and public organisations are much good. I've never found them very useful and they often don't have much experience of the real world.

gwen, that's totally fine and your experience. It's not the experience of many many people who give feedback on Career information advice and guidance services.
I was a careers adviser and now I manage/coach (!) a team of eleven careers advisers as part of a national organisation.
We are constantly being assessed and assessing ourselves to ensure we give the best service possible, as well as working to develop our own skills.

waves at sassenach

We adhere to a code of ethics etc. We are professionals, life coaches are not. Please do not confuse us.

There are people out thzre who describe themselves as life coaches to whom this applies sure. On the other hand there are also professionals who have spent many years training and also adhere to a code of ethics.

I agree that there should be regulation.

Life coaches and work coaches are very different things. Like others, the work coaches tend to be "retired" from a relevant but senior job and can provide useful tips on how to break into the C-suite for instance.
Life coaches.. Most haven't a clue. One I know went back to a regular job and guess what, hasn't made any strides at all in her career. (I've been trying to help her).

The most worrying aspect is that 90% of her life coaching clientele were young, insecure women in their 20s. Sad that they weren't getting support at work.

God that’s so damn woolly you could put it in a field and call it dolly 🐑

Sure . And sometimes that is exactly what people need.

Is it for everyone, probably not.

If you are curious about what it is, book a sample session with a reputable coach. Good ones will offer a free short session to get a taste of what it is.

If you're not interested or curious, fine ...🤷‍♀️.

What is the value of discreiting a profession / service that you have no iinterest in?

@evaperonspoodle - words fail me on your brother and his coach helping him to become a vet. So unprofessional.

Life coach unregulated and a lot of poor quality practitioners out there

This I 100% agree with. I would like to see it regulated.

@evaperonspoodle - that is totally unethical! And why there should be regulation.

There are some situations where the line is a little blurred. For example, people with a burn-out. I personally refer them as I feel I don't have the knowledge or skills to help them out of their situation. I do work with people who have come out of a burn-out and are looking for a new balance in life that keeps them healthy.

Also, I live in a country where career coaching is subsidised. People pay very little and I am am paid a reasonable amount. The government subsideses 90% of the cost.

" It's not the experience of many many people who give feedback on Career information advice and guidance services."

When do they give the feedback though? Straight after the session or after having a successful career that the adviser oriented them to?
I know for a fact that people can work in public careers centres without having real life experience themselves.

Earlier this year I could not decide whether I was looking for counselling, psychotherapy or a life coach. The idea with a life coach was that they might help me learn not to make the same mistakes again and to think about changing how I live my life in general. I spoke to several life coaches on the phone. Typically they charged around £200 an hour and none of them could explain how they would work with me to achieve my aims. None of them seemed to have achieved anything of note in their own lives. In the end I went with the counsellor who could see me first. I had eight sessions and took a break because although I was sorting out my problems it was too painful to keep going. The work we did is now paying dividends, the scabs of my painful experience are much more healed and I will go back for some more sessions later in the year. I might buy a good life coaching book and see if that helps with the more practical aspects of life.

higgy* that's great. Glad that you've been able to make so much progress

waves to "weebarra*

up the workers CAs!

@AlexaShutUp

What professional body accredited you?

@Namechangeforthiscancershit

You did read that it was counselling and not life coaching that helped?!

many careers advisers I know (and this is in Scotland, where the careers guidance system is much better than in England) have changed careers to become a careers adviser after previously working in, for example, teaching, social work, youth justice etc.

So they do have life experience.

Furthermore, they require a postgraduate diploma, minimum, so they have experience of studying, making career and subject decisions, doing applications, CVs etc.

They work with ALL ages, advising on things like redundancy. We often go into businesses where people are being made redundant and furthermore this gives us experience.

Don't get career guidance from someone who doesn't have a Postgraduate Diploma in career guidance, and instead only has a qualification they bought from a dubious online college.

Same goes for HR professionals offering career guidance - recruitment is not the same as career guidance or helping someone to develop their career management skills. Career guidance is not (just) about CVs and interview skills.

I think there are some great life coaches out there but there are also some who work on a mlm style business set up.
So they become a coach but then the real money is teaching people how to be coaches, they tell people to 'invest in themselves' and that usually means buying courses from them. Then they train coaches how to get more clients and so on and so forth. There's a definite pyramid out there.

This thread was not about careers advisors!!

It’s about life coaching

It's similar to the saying ' I'm better at giving advice then taking my own'
Some people are better and are able to help and see the problems from outside the box.

Saying that though, so many people on social media keep up loading videos of themselves giving meaningful advice and it's cringeworthy .
One women said ' don't do me, do you! Live your best life' which is true but it's better coming from a meme.

I agree with posters who say it's poorly regulated. There's a lot of under-qualified/unqualified people calling themselves life coaches which is a shame.

However I think coaching can be great with the right coach. Any good money/business/life/confidence coaches I know are really committed to constantly bettering themselves they don't just assume they have life worked out but they have the tools/knowledge to help people who seek their services to implement a plan.

You did read that it was counselling and not life coaching that helped?!

Err yes thank you, off of, you know, being able to read English. I can be pleased that someone has managed to make the changes they want to make can't I?

Some people object to charlatans who charge extortionate amounts to vulnerable people and offer nothing of proven value in return.

Discredit the charlatans, by all means. Not the profession though.
There are great and terrible builders. The great ones add value to your property. The terrible ones rob you blind. Does that mean that the profession is a bad thing though?