Cult Of The Coach

It’s the billion-dollar industry that promises to transform the lives of its clients. But is life coaching a legitimate tool for personal development or the emperor’s new clothes of psychological well-being? WH demystifies the trend

- Roisín Dervish - O’ Kane

“A BIT OF NEGATIVITY ROCKS THE BOAT OF POSITIVITY,” Jen* says into her microphone, crossing the floor of the conference room. “People may try to make you doubt what you’ve learnt today, but you can come back this week and be around positive people.” It’s 9:45 am on day one of an intensive course aiming to make life coaches of the 60-strong captive audience here today. Among them is a former shipping executive whose artfully filled face makes an accurate guess at her age impossible, a man in his thirties looking for a lucrative get-out from his current shift-based broadcasting gig and me, a journalist who has dissected wellness trends from IV vitamin infusions to transformational breathwork in an attempt to understand the human pursuit of living optimally. I’ve explored personal development both in and out of the office and I’ve sought help from four different therapists in three years. Suffice to say, I’m not one to pour scorn on the idea of attempting to better yourself. But if there’s a trend that causes my right eyebrow to shoot skywards, it’s life coaching.