Will the life coach take you for a ride?

So you think solicitors, accountants and private doctors charge astronomical rates for their services? At least they've faced tough examinations and put in years of training.

But what about the so-called life coaches? They charge on average between £60 and £100 an hour for their services. Some ask for as much as £200 an hour. If you do your homework you might get lucky and find one who is trained, but many have little or no training whatsoever. Anyone can set themself up as a coach.

In the 1980s it was the in-thing to go to a counsellor, but if you were seeing one it was best kept secret, in case people thought you were unstable. Life coaches, however, like personal trainers have become fashionable.

If you are going to a life coach it shows to the world that you are not like every one else at work moaning about their dead-end jobs, while doing nothing about them. You are taking positive action to get yourself out of your rut. You are going to find a career that you love and start enjoying life to the full. It will cost you dearly, but it will be worth every penny.

This is what Rebekkah Renton thought when she went along for her first lifecoaching session, but she came away feeling as if she had thrown money down the drain.

"I had come to a point where I felt I really needed to make some changes in my life. So, I went on to the internet and found myself a life coach, well actually it was two women working in a team. I went along for my first session and what I was expecting to find were two people oozing with charisma and personal power, people who emitted a feeling of success and life satisfaction themselves.

"What I found were what appeared to me to be two bored housewives. They were very pleasant, but I don't think they'd had any formal training in coaching. There seemed to be no methodology underpinning what they did and they had no business experience either. I think they were just dabbling. I paid £50 for that first session and then they put together a proposal for me to go back and spend about £600 with them.

"I felt a right mug just handing over the 50 quid. It was a total waste of time and money. I wish I'd spent the money on a massage or beauty treatment, at least I would have come away from that feeling better. In the end I made the changes myself." Rebekkah is now launching her own magazine.

Fitness trainer Lucy Wyndham-Read also felt like she had wasted her time when she first went to see a life coach. "I picked up a flier advertising a life coach at a local gym. I initially went along out of curiosity for both professional and personal reasons. I wanted to find out how life coaches could affect my business as a fitness trainer and I wanted to see whether it could make me change my lifestyle," she explains.

"At the first session I spent the whole time talking and all he did was listen. He didn't give me any feedback or ask me any questions."

Although Lucy left the first session without the positive glow she was expecting, she went back for more, thinking that her experience might have been normal for a first meeting. "The second session was no better," she says. "Again there was no structure, and it didn't seem to be going any where." The '"coach" wanted Lucy to sign up for more lessons, but at £80 a time she felt it would be throwing good money after bad.

Lucy didn't give up, however. The second time around she did her research. "I really looked into it. I found out what qualifications you should have to call yourself a life coach and I found myself a certified coach. From my first session with Sandra Richardson it was a completely different experience. Straight away I had established where I wanted my life to go, how to push forward and what was holding me back.

"In my first session I said to her 'you're going to think I'm mad, but what I really want to do is fitness on TV.' It was a dream I had, but something I never thought I'd achieve in reality. But Sandra set me goals and we put together an action plan of where I wanted to be in a month's time, where I wanted to be in six months' time and where I wanted to be in a year's time. I walked out feeling I can do this."

Within six months Lucy was giving fitness instruction on television. "I still can't believe I'm actually doing it, " says Lucy. "And, I'm continuing going to Sandra although not as regularly as at first, because it helps to keep driving me forward."

If you think life coaching is the answer to your problems, find an experienced one and - before making any financial commitments - check out their credentials. Ask to see proof that they have some recognised training.

Life coach Trevor Cousins stresses that only clients who have the right attitude will benefit from coaching. "You need to be ready and keen for change and you must be prepared to step out of your comfort zone if you are to grow," he says.

You must realise that a life coach is a facilitator trained to listen to you and help you to create a plan that will enable you to reach your life goals. They won't provide the solutions. You have to find these yourself. In short, you have to be "coachable".

Pam Richardson, the principle of the UK College of Lifecoaching says: "Socrates said: 'We all have within us the power to answer every question.' A good life coach should unleash that power."

Socrates declined payment for his work, having little interest in material success, which is where his modern day disciples break away from his philosophy. Judging by the numbers of people taking on coaches and the number of people training to coach it was a move worth making.

Just make sure you don't get taken for a ride.

There are dozens of organisations offering lifecoaching training at different levels and intensities.

The International Coach Federation (ICF) is one of the most well-respected coaching bodies, and ICF-accredited courses are very well thought of. For more details of these go to www.coachfederation.org.uk.

The reputation of other coaching courses can normally be established by finding out whether the training body has an affiliation with a reputable educational body in the UK.

For example, the UK College of Life Coaching (www.ukcollegeoflifecoaching.com), which runs a series of well-recognised courses, is accredited by the National Open College Network.

Don't just rely on a training certificate as proof of ability, however. Ask for references and to speak to people who have already received coaching from your preferred coach.

Don't sign up for a series of sessions without trying out the coach first. A professional coach should offer a free introductory session that should help you to establish whether they can help you or not and whether you are compatible. It is very important that you can get on and that there are no clashes of personality.

In this initial meeting the coach should explain to you what coaching is about and what you should expect. You should then be able to decide whether this is the coach for you and whether you are right for coaching.