Coaching Goes Mainstream: Inside the Industry's Push for Regulation and Credibility

With coaching now a $4.7 billion global industry, establishing clear standards is imperative. To understand the landscape, it helps to define how a Life Coach differs from other professionals: 

• Life Coach: Future-focused and goal-oriented, helping clients move forward. Coaches believe answers lie within the client and do not focus on the past.

• Mentor/Counsellor: A directive advisor sharing career-specific experiences, pitfalls, and successes, typically based on their own past work history.

• Therapist: A licensed, clinically trained mental health professional who heals past psychological wounds.

• Psychoanalyst: A professional with a clinical degree who delves deeper into the client’s mind. 

• Psychiatrist: A medical doctor specializing in the biology of the mind who can prescribe medication.

  
  

Because Life Coaching is a relatively new field, credentialing bodies like the ICF (International Coaching Federation), NBHWC (National Board for Health & Wellbeing Coaching), and BCC (Board Certified Coach) have emerged to establish standards and protect clients.