Are life coaches a real thing? This is a question that has been asked by many people who are considering hiring a life coach. A life coach is a type of wellness professional who helps people progress in their lives to achieve greater fulfillment. They can help their clients improve their relationships, careers, and daily lives. Therapists are qualified to treat mental health conditions, but they are also qualified to help people clarify their life goals and overcome obstacles to achieving them.
It is important to find a legitimate coach who has more substance than just quotes and memes. They should be writing articles for publications, discussing new video learning, organizing seminars and workshops, frankly sharing their own experiences, or finding other ways to add value. Professional coaches should be able to mention their corporate clients or the work they are doing for others. Unlike becoming a therapist, all you need to become a life coach is a passion for helping others and a good course to learn some tools and techniques.
Ethical life coaches know that life coaching is not therapy and refer clients who need therapy to a therapist. All training skills are great to learn and very beneficial, but monetizing them is something completely different from what NO training program is going to talk about because it hinders your growth. I see many people leaving perfectly good jobs and giving up perfectly good skills because they have decided that they want to start a life coaching business. It's up to you to decide how important it is for a coach to have a certain level of education, a specific type of life experience, or a coaching certification.
A common misconception is that life coaches provide advice, but this is not the case. Because there are things they don't tell you in coaching school about how to start a life coaching business (or any business really), it can be difficult to distinguish what makes life coaching different from therapy or other types of training. There's a reason no one has created a corporation full of life coaches who generate billions of dollars in profits per year. That's not to say that life coaches don't have tools and skills for specific aspects of life, but there's no healing work involved.
It can also be difficult to distinguish what makes it different from other types of training. It is important to remember that those who approach life coaches often have underlying emotional and psychological issues that stand in the way of achieving their goals. Many life coaches end up guiding their clients through these gray areas when their clients are not clearly depressed, dealing with trauma, or showing other symptoms of mental health conditions. In conclusion, life coaches are real professionals who can help people progress in their lives and achieve greater fulfillment. It is important to find an ethical coach who has more substance than just quotes and memes and who knows the difference between therapy and life coaching.
