It's time to regulate life coaches

Utah shows a potential path forward

Life coaches are, legally speaking, almost impossible to hold accountable, which has legislators in Utah rethinking the industry.

ProPublica published a year-long investigative report into this industry today. They found that Utahns face enormous hurdles when trying to take legal action against life coaches, especially those that offer mental health services.

As it turns out, former therapists turn to life coaching when they lose their license. No longer beholden to rules and regulations standard in credentialed industries, these coaches can charge exorbitant rates, market their brand however they see fit, and not be held accountable when their services don’t work out—or worse, harm the client.

One coach, Denim Slade, admitted that “some mild boundaries” were crossed in his licensed therapy practice. He grudgingly relinquished his therapeutic license and became a life coach. Things didn’t exactly go swimmingly after that.

Slade…was cited and fined $250 just three months after he surrendered his therapy license after DOPL received two reports that he engaged in inappropriate conduct with female clients. DOPL cited him, according to public records, for advertising that he did “Lifespan Integration Therapy” and could treat trauma in his life coaching business. A year later, he was cited again for unauthorized practice after DOPL received reports that he continued to advertise that he treated mental health issues like depression, anxiety, trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder. The life coach told a DOPL investigator he didn’t realize those posts were still active after he gave up his license and agreed to remove them.

Slade now markets himself as a “relationship coach,” because, I guess, what boundaries? Reports of inappropriate behavior don’t square well with the photo of him with his wife and three daughters on his website.

Weight loss is another target market for life coaches with no therapeutic training. (I wrote about my interaction with one such coach last week.) Some diet coaches repurpose recipes and nutrient recommendations with all of their clients, offering a “one size” approach to diet when individual biology actually needs to be considered. Since these coaches are not beholden to regulations, they can simply repackage their services and accept payment as long as their clients pony up.

Because, as the NY Times recently reported, for many coaches, it’s all about business.

Business is booming. The International Coaching Federation, the world’s largest nonprofit coaching association, estimated that the industry was worth $4.6 billion in 2022 and that the number of coaches increased 54 percent between 2019 and 2022. Because the industry lacks standardized accreditation, it’s most likely larger — one of the dangers of life coaching is that anyone can claim the title of life coach.

Life coaching is big business. According to market research, this industry is considered one of the fastest growing in America. The International Coaching Federation reported more than 26,000 coaches in North America in 2020. Yet those numbers are hard to qualify given that you don’t need a certification to deem yourself a coach.