Many life coaches promise their clients that they will resolve the clutter in their heads.Image source: watson/imago
realize profits
Selling pseudoscience courses through deceptive marketing. This is how questionable life coaches make money, as the Profit & Fulfillment series demonstrates. Still, they have happy customers. For what reason? What makes a good coach?
Yes, they exist: “Good” life coaches. Those who are not charlatans. This does not mean joining a cult. Who can actually help their clients without relying on their gullibility. That's what Eric Lippmann said. He is Professor of Applied Psychology at ZHAW and Head of the Coaching Course from 2002 to 2024.
However, Lippmann admits: It’s not easy to find these “good” life coaches in such an opaque market filled with pseudoscience and guru advocates.
What is the difference between a serious coach and a questionable coach?
“When a promise of a cure is made, you should always pay attention,” Lippman said. The clear distinction between coaching and psychotherapy is the most important and what separates a reputable provider from a questionable one. Lippmann should have understood this limit better than anyone else. He practiced family therapy as a psychologist for ten years before beginning to coach individuals and companies in professional settings.
“The circumstances and issues you encounter in therapy and counseling are similar,” Lippman said. But he never went as far in his coaching sessions as he did in his therapy sessions. And he never treats clinical pictures, but pursues a clear goal. Goals that clients set for themselves or their superiors. Lippmann also frequently coaches on behalf of companies that want to further train their managers.
Eric Lippmann, instructor and professor of applied psychology at ZHAW.Image: zvg
Many providers, particularly personal trainer training centres, state that they adhere to this restriction. They emphasized that they would only work with “healthy people.”
In principle, Lippmann agreed with this attitude. But at the same time, she also felt it was unrealistic. “What does it mean to be healthy?” Lippmann asked. Mental health is a spectrum. Depending on where you are, you may have a co-occurring mental disorder and still be “coachable.” Because in coaching you won't even cover topics that are part of a psychotherapy course. For one simple reason:
“In serious coaching, the emphasis is on the professional background.”
This is how you find a good coach
The Professional Association for Coaching, Supervision and Organizational Consulting, BSO, also believes that coaching should only focus on professional backgrounds. Lippmann’s advice to anyone looking for a coach:
“Check if the coach is a member of the BSO.”
This establishes and checks the quality standards of Swiss coaching. For example, coaches need to earn a federal diploma in coaching, organizational consulting, or supervision to become a member.
“Realizing Profits”, Part 3
For three consecutive Sundays we asked ourselves: Who is involved in the coaching market? (Part 1) What questionable ways do you use to make money in your industry? (Part 2) Why does coaching still seem to help so many people? (Part 3)
However, Lippmann noted that BSO recognition alone does not guarantee good coaching. because:
“The BSO can't guarantee if my coach is getting enough practice.”
Lippmann compares coaches to surgeons: Surgeons have access to all the training and recognition. But you still want to have heart surgery with someone who does it regularly. Therefore, Lippmann's second suggestion is:
“It goes beyond what is recommended.”
Lippmann makes clear that this does not refer to advice you find online. Just like on Google. As shown in the first part of this series, in the city of Zurich, for example, almost all life coaches are rated five stars on the map.
If you search for “life coaching” on Google Maps in the city of Zurich, you will actually only find five-star service providers.Bild: Screenshot of Google Maps
Lippmann doesn't take these online comments seriously. “They can easily be bought or manipulated by just deleting bad reviews.” Lippmann would rely on advice from his own environment and talk to people who already had experience with one coach or another. But this approach can also have its flaws.
Using mysticism to achieve happiness? Yes, thanks to the placebo effect
There are many people who have had positive experiences with life coaching, but they do not follow Lippmann’s definition of “serious” coaching. Life coaches who promise healing use pseudoscientific and esoteric methods, and their guidance is not limited to professional backgrounds, even claiming to be able to cure serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia. And its customers remain enthusiastic.
This is evidenced by the large number of emails and comments our editorial team received regarding the first two parts of this series. One reader wrote: “My coach has no psychological training but still helps me cope with trauma better than the psychologist before him.” Another said:
“Coaching is absolutely responsible for making a lasting difference in my life.”
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Someone even wrote in our comments:
“If I had believed in evidence-based science, I probably wouldn’t be here today. (…) Instead, the scientific path did not help me. However, the alternative path taken with an empathetic person did it for me It was the right path and saved my life.”
Watson-Leather
According to Lippmann's definition, how can a “non-serious life coach” possibly help clients in the long term? Lippmann also has an answer for this:
“There’s something like a placebo effect in coaching, too.”
This means that coaching will only help clients because they believe it will help. Just like little balls can help fight test anxiety, lovesickness, and colds, if you just believe it.
Where psychotherapy lags
But there are two other reasons why even dubious life coaches can help people. Even if there are pseudoscientific theories as esoteric as the Swiss Coaching Institute, we secretly put them to the test in part two of this series. One reason is the relationship between coach and coachee. “This is different from psychotherapy from the beginning,” Lippman said.
Usually you choose your own coach. This is often not possible with psychotherapy. Simply because there are so few places to treat. “There can be a personal mismatch between therapist and patient, but also between coach and client,” Lippman says. The fact that someone feels comfortable in therapy or counseling has a big impact on how helpful people find the therapy or counseling to be.
The second reason: “As human beings, it is fundamentally good to be taken seriously and to be listened to. It is fundamentally good for us to accept ourselves.” Thus, Lippmann on Esoteric Life The coach’s conclusion is:
“If it doesn't do any harm, it doesn't do any good.”
According to Lippmann, the same applies to every life coaching training center.
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