As it turns out, the most important thing to tell your clients isn’t what you are, it’s what you are not. And if you’re forgetting to do this, it can expose you to massive liability.
Let me explain with a broad example first. Then we’ll look at some specifics.
The largest umbrella category of coaches nowadays is probably the “life coach”. If you quickly Google What does a life coach do? you’ll receive the following response:
Now let’s google What do therapists do?
The therapists job description is dressed up with some fancier words, but if you break them down, they’re actually very similar.
“Wellness professional” and “mental health professional” are next door neighbors. Help with “making progress in life” and “improving life” often go hand-in-hand.
And on a deeper level, if you get into the nitty gritty of what life coaches discuss with their clients, very often it covers improving cognitive and emotional skills to cope with various life challenges.
So if you sat a therapist at a booth beside a life coach and did the classic Pepsi vs. Coca-Cola blind test, would you be table to tell which is which?
Honestly, I think you’d have a better shot at telling the sodas apart.
And it’s worth noting that a certification and a license are not the same thing.
A licensure is a legal designation. It demonstrates that you have met a set of requirements for the profession. Certifications are not regulated the same way.
It’s important that your client understands the difference for multiple reasons.
The first, of course, is to protect them and their well-being. It’s a matter of opinion, but it seems like these days people are interested in hiring a coach as a work-around to seeing a therapist. I think that’s because it feels more collaborative to work with a coach; you aren’t a “patient”, you’re a “client”. You probably don’t need insurance to work with a coach, either. And depending on the coach’s fees, it very well might be less expensive.
But can your coaching client expect the same treatment from you that they would get from a therapist?
No.
Hear me out.
It’s very possible that they could achieve the same results with you that they could achieve with a therapist. But you, as a coach, are not treating them. Follow me?
The second important reason for your clients to understand the difference between your license and your certification is to protect you.
If you give the appearance to the public that you are offering professional counseling for a fee, there are significant legal repercussions for it. In the State of Ohio, for example, it’s a fourth degree misdemeanor.
Given that offering your services for a fee is your bread and butter, and it could easily be misconstrued as offering therapy, how do you make sure you’re compliant with your state’s laws?
By being fully transparent with your client, and making sure they understand what you do and do not do.
The best way to do that is to get it in writing.
Having your clients sign a coaching program agreement can cover LOTS of important things, but this one is huge.
That is not to say that there aren’t coaches who also have licenses. If you do, you should say so (and probably increase your prices). But it’s far more common to see a certified coach whose services can easily be confused for those offered by a licensed professional.
The fitness coach who is not a personal trainer.
The health coach who is not a nutritionist.
The relationship coach who is not a couples counselor.
The life coach who is not a therapist.
If you fall into one of these categories, you need a written agreement with your clients.
To start, you can check out my Coaching Protections Package here. It comes with a Coaching Program Agreement that you can customize for your offering, that will make sure you and your client are on the same page about the services you provide.
Don’t get caught making this mistake. It’s the most important thing to tell your clients, and it’s easy to handle with the right agreement in place.
