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A pleasant-looking woman in yoga pants is seated on the floor, facing the camera. “Thank you for choosing me as your life coach, she says. “Just checking you've made payment?” She puts on some relaxing music, changes her filter as if to dim the lights. Then the session begins. “OK, you need to go to bed a bit earlier.” Her other pearls of wisdom: Eat fruits and vegetables, and brush your teeth twice a day. “See you next week!”
The scene I just described is satire, but it makes a valid point: Just about anyone who gives off a certain vibe can claim to be a life coach.
While there is one established body that accredits coaches – the International Coaching Federation – there's no requirement for people working as coaches to join this organization. Writing for the Conversation, Emily Hemendinger, a licensed clinical social worker and assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Colorado, says people interested in receiving coaching should understand how it differs from therapy, and thoroughly vet a coach before deciding to work with them.
Typically, coaches assist someone in creating a plan for achieving specific goals – for example, making a change in their career, diet or relationships. Coaching can be effective in helping people manage chronic conditions, such as diabetes, between doctors’ visits and to follow their treatment plan.
Yet the profession is poorly regulated, which can make it a utopia for scammers; untrained people providing advice about health, psychology and nutrition; and, in some cases, cult-like behavior, such as a coach encouraging customers to cut ties with family and friends. Practicing therapists, on the other hand, are required to be in good standing with the law, have years of training, are regulated by governing bodies and professional associations, and are required to adhere to certain guidelines to keep clients safe.
Hemendinger says when checking out coaches, look into their training and check to see if their methods are backed up by solid research. If they promise to “cure you” or tout a product that can fix your problem, those are red flags.
Learn about the differing services therapists vs. coaches provide, and how to suss out a scam.
ICYMI: Finding a therapist who takes your insurance can be nearly impossible. Here's why |
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Do you ever wonder what the long list of unpronounceable words in your personal care products could be doing to you? Well, a new study links the recent use of personal care products like lotions, ointments and hair conditioners to higher levels of endocrine-disrupting chemicals called phthalates in young children, as NPR’s Maria Godoy reports.
Phthalates are a group of chemicals added to plastics to make them more flexible and durable, and used as ingredients in some personal care products.
These chemicals are endocrine disruptors – which means they can mimic, block or interfere with the body’s own hormones. And when it comes to children, the concern is that they might cause disruptions during key developmental moments.
In the study, George Washington University Epidemiologist Michael Bloom and colleagues analyzed urine samples from over 600 children ages 4 through 8. Their parents or guardians filled out surveys about any hair and skin care products they’d applied to the child within the past 24 hours.
“We found that the recent use of several different types of skin care products was associated with higher urinary concentrations of several different types of phthalates,” Bloom says. Bloom and his colleagues also found differences in phthalate exposures by race and ethnicity. Until now, concerns about phthalate exposure have often focused on diet, since the chemicals can leach into food from plastic packaging and food handling equipment.
Dr. Shruthi Mahalingaiah, an assistant professor of environmental, reproductive and women’s health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, says that as social media helps fuel a craze for skin care among tweens and teens, the findings are an important reminder that some of these products could potentially be exposing kids to endocrine-disrupting chemicals.
Learn more about what phthalates in common personal care products could mean for kids’ health and development.
Plus: Girls are getting their first periods earlier. Here's what parents should know |
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We hope you enjoyed these stories. Find more of NPR's health journalism online.
All the best,
Andrea Muraskin and your NPR Health editors |
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