Personal development

Wellness coaching: find out before you use it!

Publié le null - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

You are followed by a coach specialized in well-being? Are you familiar with the organization or person providing this training? A study conducted by the DGCCRF reveals that about 80% of professionals in this sector have at least one anomaly in terms of skills, professional qualifications and rewarding mentions. Service-Public.fr inform you!

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Image 1Crédits: Galina Zhigalova - stock.adobe.com

The sector of “wellness coaching” has experienced a significant growth in France in recent years. Many independent organizations or professionals offer services to a wide audience, both companies and individuals. Coaching is the individual or collective care of people through advice or personalized support techniques in the fields of professional and private life.

In 2021 and 2022, the Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF) surveyed 165 coaching professionals. The study, which aims to protect the most vulnerable people from certain drifts related to this profession, focused more particularly on specialties related to physiological or mental balance: “life coaches” and “personal development coaches” offer support in stress management, weight loss, the fight against certain addictions, etc.

Warning  

The DGCCRF's checks show that for 80% of professionals, the practices present at least one anomaly.

About 20 % of the professionals checked found misleading marketing practices: promotion of qualifications not held by the coach, maintenance of confusion with the medical profession by using terms specific to that sector (‘consultation’, ‘doctor’), use of therapeutic claims, specialization in behavioral disorders which are subject to medical supervision.

These practices lead to confusion about the qualities of professionals or the expected results of a service, and can even lead to a loss of medical luck for consumers.

It should also be noted that half of the professionals checked are unaware of the regulations on information and handing over of documents to consumers:

  • lack of information on prices;
  • no discount for services exceeding €25;
  • unfair terms in contracts (limitation of the trader’s liability in the event of an error in the information communicated, limitation of the consumer’s rights in the exercise of his remedies...).

On the training side, the controls have shown that they are often offered at a high cost for sometimes very short durations (from a few hours to a few days), with content that is often opaque. Attestations given to participants have free denominations and are mistakenly presented as diplomas having the value of qualification (e.g. a certificate of ‘effective aid techniques’).

Practices of misuse of medical data (demand for blood tests of the consumer), or which may be similar to sectarian abuse, have also been identified and reported to the competent authorities.

The DGCCRF calls on consumers subscribing to coaching services to remain vigilant, to check the skills and qualifications of professionals and to request proof of advanced rewarding mentions.

Please note

In case of difficulties with a coaching professional, you can make a report on the site SignalConso. In case of a contractual dispute and if no amicable solution is found, you can contact the competent consumer ombudsman (professionals are obliged to subscribe to this service).

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