More trained professionals are finding their way into the coaching industry as a means to tap into a growing sector, make extra cash, or work with people who may normally look down on the idea of therapy. The American Psychological Association anecdotally reports an increase in the number of social workers and therapists turning to coaching because the pay-out-of-pocket model lets them circumvent the insurance industry. And, for people who attach a social stigma to more conventional forms of therapy, life coaching may offer some type of relief.
There are dangers, however. Among them: life coaches are not trained to recognize mental or emotional distress—or worse, that their unregulated methods could cause problems in their clients' lives. Dr. Puder-York remembers a client who'd had a particularly bad experience with a former schoolteacher who transformed herself into a life coach. The client, a 41-year-old female finance executive, needed help coping with the politics of her predominantly male workplace. Instead, the schoolteacher turned coach harped on the client's personal life, including asking why she'd never married or given birth to any children. "That coach was not credentialed to go there," Puder-York says. "It could have set up a really bad emotional episode had that coach done that with someone more vulnerable."
It isn't just the desire to help others that motivates people to become life coaches. With unemployment hovering around 10 percent, many out-of-work consultants, middle managers, and human-resources executives are turning to the potentially lucrative field of life coaching. The going rate for life coaches is $189 per hour, with an average annual salary of $52,478, according to the International Coach Federation.
It's best to look for coaches with backgrounds in psychology or psychotherapy, or for professionals with experience in human resources or management who now work as career coaches. In terms of the actual sessions, life coaches say their colleagues should ask questions rather than dole out advice or probe into clients' pasts, and they should stick to the topic clients hire them to tackle: be it résumé writing, career development, or relationships.
词句笔记：
fringe：n.流苏，刘海，边缘；adj.边缘的；vt.作为……的边缘，装饰……的边
fringe costs：附加费用
fringe industry：边缘产业
tap：n.水龙头，窃听器；vt.轻拍，敲打，开发，开辟，装窃听器
tap your inner poet：触动你内心的诗意
tap into a growing sector：涉足一个新兴的产业
harp on：喋喋不休
