Anonymous wrote:A good life coach can help you identify goals and form a plan with you to achieve them. They are not therapists at all but rather someone who keeps you on track and keeps you accountable.

I don’t get the hate from the other posters. My life coach really helped me when I was stuck a few years ago. I lost 50 pounds with her guidance, went back to school and now have a career I love.

I agree. My life coach was more of a career coach so maybe it depends on what you want to discuss but my experience was great. She really helped me define the root cause of my unhappiness and I was able to pinpoint changes that I could make that would make me a happier person. Is it something I could have done on my own? Maybe. But sometimes you need someone who isn't a friend or relative who can listen to what you are saying and what you want without imposing their own biases on you.

I have a friend who is a “life coach”. She took the role on after she got canned from her job. You have to pay the bills somehow, folks!

I have the reaction that Steve Martin’s character in “Father of the Bride” did when he heard that his daughter was marrying an independent communications consultant.

I think sometimes a life coach tells people what they’ve already been told, but the person listens more because they’re paying for services. I’m had two friends who ignored all their friends’ advice on dating and personal behavior. Their life coaches said the same things for hundreds of dollars each, and my friends thought the advice was new and spot on. I guess they needed to hear it from a stranger.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Life coaches take your money.

Ding, ding, ding!

Yup. And for those who prefer them to a therapist because the coach will tell you what to do: the main job of a (good) therapist is to help you live a better independent life. You won't get that by someone else telling you what to do.

Waste of money.

I've hired two. One basically told me to do facebook advertising for my business, then disappeared. I had paid for a few sessions, did one, and never heard back when I emailed to set up another meeting.

The other stretched out "you just have to believe in yourself!" into a two hour spiel. He still contacts me, trying to persuade me to hire him to help me write a book. I don't want to write a book, nor have I ever expressed any interest in doing so.

Red flags go up when I hear “life coach” or “consultant” as a person’s day job. Too vague and a life coach just strikes me as person who would surely grate on my nerves ie Iyanla Vanzant

I had a life coach and a therapist when I was going through a divorce and the life coach was infinitely more helpful. The guidance and push I needed!

I think they help you identify what you're good at, what you want to do with your life...career, marriage, schooling etc and help you set goals to achieve those things based on what you're good at and enjoy doing.

I ended up with a free life coach through work. I thought I was signing up for a career coach. She was in training and had to do some requisite number of coaching hours - still have no idea why my work was involved.

It ended up being a positive experience, with the huge caveat that she really did push her own views on me. She asked me some tough questions and made me think. The big change she made was helping convince me to have a baby (I had been a lifelong "no" but was wavering) which turned out to be great.