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Updated
Reading 2 mins.
in collaboration with
Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director of Doctissimo)
Medical validation:
March 12, 2023
In recent years, the practices of personal support or “coaching” have exploded. However, 80% of these experts have at least one “anomaly” according to Fraud Control. Explanations.
Regaining confidence in the future, boosting your self-confidence, learning to manage your stress… There are many reasons for consulting a “wellness” coach. However, these specialists are not all serious: a survey by the Directorate General for Competition, Consumption and the Repression of Fraud (DGCCRF) found 80% of anomalies among these well-being coaching professionals.
Misleading commercial practices and sectarian aberrations
“In 2021 and 2022, out of 165 professionals and training establishments checked, nearly 80% had at least one anomaly concerning the information delivered to consumers in terms of skills, professional titles and rewarding mentions“, reveals the DGCCRF in a press release.
Worse still, in 20% of cases, the services of the DGCCRF noted “misleading business practices” – such as the highlighting of titles not held by the coach (for example, a diploma of magnetizer) or the maintenance of confusion with medicine by using terms specific to this environment (consultation, doctor, etc. ).
Result ? “These practices, which create confusion about the qualities of professionals or the expected results of a service, can go so far as to cause a loss of medical opportunity for consumers.“, warns the DGCCRF.
Another worrying point: the checks carried out in these centers have shown that training is often offered at a high cost, “sometimes for very short periods” (from a few hours to a few days). Their contents, “sometimes obscure“, could even be related to sectarian excesses.
?️ Well-being coaching: we have investigated the sector of coaches specializing in physiological or mental balance in order to protect consumers who are accompanied; our investigations revealed a rate of 80% of anomalies.
?https://t.co/KkzXhdvwGk pic.twitter.com/tZP7X6g24m— DGCCRF (@dgccrf) March 9, 2023
Finally, more than half of the experts did not know “consumer information and document delivery regulations” (lack of information on prices, abusive clauses in contracts, etc.).
In this context, the DGCCRF calls on consumers “to remain vigilant” and to find out about the skills and qualifications of professionals.
Good in your body, good in your head!
“We must punish the excesses”
Faced with this situation, Dr. Kierzek recommends using common sense.
“Well-being coaching means nothing! Some experts take advantage of patients’ anxieties to sell them dreams and sessions. While this can sometimes (re)give hope, especially to people in poor health, these practices can be dangerous.“, emphasizes the medical director of Doctissimo. “Besides that, there are also serious and competent coaches, even without a diploma. Admittedly, it is advisable to sanction the excesses and to better circulate information between Miviludes and the DGGCCRF, but one must not fall into a moral order or an extreme scientism“, concludes the expert.