Page 3 | Should I pay this much for one to one coaching?

Alacartemenu · 2025-04-10T10:52:45+00:00

I have completed a group online parenting course for 5 weeks for free. Facilitator was really good and brilliant with advice. He's a life coach of a specific area of self development. He has been doing this for a decade. Have had a chat for private one to one coaching and he's quoted £4000 for a 5 month period of one day a week hour long sessions. I believe this would really help me, but is this price insanely high? or in line with what's available out there for coaching?

jackiesgirl · 10/04/2025 14:38

There is a massive pyramid scheme life coaching scam going on in the UK, please please look into it before parting with any money.

toomuchfaff · 10/04/2025 14:39

TeenLifeMum · 10/04/2025 13:43

Quite. Unless her coaching is how to bag a rich guy, I’m not sure what she thinks she can teach anyone.

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I'm starting coaching - how to make your life easier and grow your wealth

£4k a session, minimum booking 10 sessions.

findingnibbles · 10/04/2025 14:40

jackiesgirl · 10/04/2025 14:38

There is a massive pyramid scheme life coaching scam going on in the UK, please please look into it before parting with any money.

For sure – including all the coaches coaching the other coaches on how to be more successful / mindful / heart centred / congruent / yadda yadda / coaches 😅

NuffSaidSam · 10/04/2025 14:44

Why five months?

I'd be concerned that he wants you to pay upfront for a such large number of sessions? Why can't you pay for a couple of sessions and see how it goes and then if it's worth £200 an hour you can sign up for more.

Onionbhajisandwich · 10/04/2025 14:52

Nooooooo that’s far too expensive. I work as a neurodiversity coach (mainly ADHD) and charge £35 an hour. Please don’t get sucked in to paying for 5 months of coaching that you may not need.

sparrowflewdown · 10/04/2025 14:54

Chatgpt is nearly at a level to help with coaching etc and by next year I think it will be of a comparable standard.

Planetmonster · 10/04/2025 15:11

@Alacartemenu have you tried Bonnie Harris or Dr Laura Markham? They both do online courses which are life changing (well for me anyway ! ). Look them up

https://www.connectiveparenting.com

https://www.peacefulparenthappykids.com/about

bang saved you 4k !

Bonnie Harris | Connective Parenting

Coaching & Counseling for parents looking to form a healthy parent-child relationship. Bonnie Harris is a parenting and child behavior specialist.

https://www.connectiveparenting.com

nutbrownhare15 · 10/04/2025 15:27

I came on to suggest the Laura Markham course.

Original poster

Alacartemenu · 10/04/2025 15:55

Planetmonster · 10/04/2025 15:11

@Alacartemenu have you tried Bonnie Harris or Dr Laura Markham? They both do online courses which are life changing (well for me anyway ! ). Look them up

https://www.connectiveparenting.com

https://www.peacefulparenthappykids.com/about

bang saved you 4k !

oh wow! thanks so much. will definitely take a look.

OP posts:

Original poster

Alacartemenu · 10/04/2025 15:57

Onionbhajisandwich · 10/04/2025 14:52

Nooooooo that’s far too expensive. I work as a neurodiversity coach (mainly ADHD) and charge £35 an hour. Please don’t get sucked in to paying for 5 months of coaching that you may not need.

I would be interested in something like this, I suspect both I and dc might be ND.

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Mumofteenandtween · 10/04/2025 16:04

Almaya · 10/04/2025 14:14

Hi OP,

I am a clinical psychologist and specialise in parenting support. I have trained for almost 10 years, have a doctorate, masters and undergrad plus lots of post doctoral training in particular models of therapy. I work between the nhs and private work and I charge 180 per session. This is in central London.

Unless this person is a highly specialist clinical psychologist they should not be charging that much. Actually the model of payment they are using (X months for X) worries me because from a therapeutic perspective we don’t ’trap’ people to keep them coming because they have laid. Ethically, you only want to see people whilst it is helpful and that model wouldn’t allow for this.

There are bespoke parenting groups which are well tailored, informative and evidence based online that you can do for free. This is all dependent on your child’s age and specific needs but younger children - the incredible years or Solihull groups are very good and as young people get older there are other options. Otherwise most local CAMHS services provide support for families like this (although I know there is a huge variation between areas).

if you did want to pay for parenting support privately I would recommend seeing a clinical psychologist if you’re thinking about spending that sort of money. Obviously I am biased but the skillset and level of training and experience practitioners have comes through very strongly with individual work. Anyone can run a good few parenting sessions.

Please re-read this. Particularly the bit about booking for five months and how that appears to be ethically dubious.

Espresso25 · 10/04/2025 16:15

Just because they’re well known doesn’t mean they’re effective - could just mean they’re manipulative.

Crunchymum · 10/04/2025 16:17

@Alacartemenu Is he asking you to pay the full amount up front?

Lostthefairytale · 10/04/2025 16:30

I'm a parenting coach. I am very well qualified. I think it's unethical to suck people in with free programmes/courses and push them to spend a huge amount up front. I don't offer discounts for block bookings because it is hard to know when the work will be done. Some people are on a budget and can only manage a limited amount of sessions I keep things really focused, others want ongoing support. I am flexible to what the family needs rather than what is best for me financially and I don't want them to spend any more than they need to.

This isn't an advert. I use Mumsnet as a parent and wouldn't want to blur those boundaries. But I wanted to give you and idea of what other coaches offer so you understand that you don't have to sign up to this type of programme.

StartAnew · 10/04/2025 16:38

In your position I would refuse the repeat offer and say you would like to arrange one session at a time. Thinking about it, this approach advantages him and not you.

Hibernatingtilspring · 10/04/2025 16:41

That's a great post by @Almaya

That's what I was getting at, even taking into account that you're paying self employed rates, that it's harder for them to get a 37hr week etc, £200 p/hr is more than what we pay for the absolute experts in their field, when we're dealing with the most vulnerable children and require a level that can go before the family court.

Also we'd never pay a 4k block, it would be much more likely to agree to say, 8 sessions and a review and then consider if further sessions were needed. The fixed term does seem dodgy, other than a way for this coach to guarantee their income for a few months.

BelfastBard · 10/04/2025 16:41

Lostthefairytale · 10/04/2025 16:30

I'm a parenting coach. I am very well qualified. I think it's unethical to suck people in with free programmes/courses and push them to spend a huge amount up front. I don't offer discounts for block bookings because it is hard to know when the work will be done. Some people are on a budget and can only manage a limited amount of sessions I keep things really focused, others want ongoing support. I am flexible to what the family needs rather than what is best for me financially and I don't want them to spend any more than they need to.

This isn't an advert. I use Mumsnet as a parent and wouldn't want to blur those boundaries. But I wanted to give you and idea of what other coaches offer so you understand that you don't have to sign up to this type of programme.

Out of curiosity (genuine not being snarky as that doesn’t always come across on mn). What are the qualifications for becoming a parent coach? What is the professional background there?

Original poster

Alacartemenu · 10/04/2025 16:45

Crunchymum · 10/04/2025 16:17

@Alacartemenu Is he asking you to pay the full amount up front?

No. He has said I should commit for a minimum of 3 months for £2400 to do the work I need to do. Can be paid monthly etc.

I haven't committed yet and have said I will be taking time out to think about it all.

I have decided not to go ahead with it, as seems to be such a wealth of expertise out there.

I will have a proper read of the thread and will look at all the resources mentioned.

For those who asked, no counselling training etc, but says he is a trained parenting coach who trains other coaches, and worked in this field for over a decade.

Many thanks to all posters, this thread has been invaluable, and empowering too.

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HappyHedgehog247 · 10/04/2025 16:46

If you've had 5 weeks of him, would you consider paying for a couple of sessions with a psychologist or family therapist who specializes in parenting to compare before investing?

FortyElephants · 10/04/2025 16:47

Post his name here and people will assess his bona fides for you

Original poster

Alacartemenu · 10/04/2025 16:48

HappyHedgehog247 · 10/04/2025 16:46

If you've had 5 weeks of him, would you consider paying for a couple of sessions with a psychologist or family therapist who specializes in parenting to compare before investing?

💯. how would I go about finding one

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MoreChocPls · 10/04/2025 16:48

Sorry, but you’d be a complete mug to pay him for that. It sounds like he is brainwashing you to make you think that you need these paid extra sessions which are vastly expensive and overpriced. .

Original poster

Alacartemenu · 10/04/2025 16:50

FortyElephants · 10/04/2025 16:47

Post his name here and people will assess his bona fides for you

ah gosh i couldn't do that for fear of outing self.

Like I said in the post above, only qualification seems to be parenting coaching and training other coaches. Doing this for 10 years, and before that was in a professional and highly regulated field of work. Tbh he seems very good at what he does. I'm just shocked at the prices and wondered if it was reasonable.

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Original poster

Alacartemenu · 10/04/2025 16:52

Lostthefairytale · 10/04/2025 16:30

I'm a parenting coach. I am very well qualified. I think it's unethical to suck people in with free programmes/courses and push them to spend a huge amount up front. I don't offer discounts for block bookings because it is hard to know when the work will be done. Some people are on a budget and can only manage a limited amount of sessions I keep things really focused, others want ongoing support. I am flexible to what the family needs rather than what is best for me financially and I don't want them to spend any more than they need to.

This isn't an advert. I use Mumsnet as a parent and wouldn't want to blur those boundaries. But I wanted to give you and idea of what other coaches offer so you understand that you don't have to sign up to this type of programme.

really helpful, thanks

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jackiesgirl · 10/04/2025 16:52

“Training other coaches” sounds like a red flag for MLM. He should be leading with his success rather than how many others he’s recruited. This guy stinks.