How do coaches stay clear of giving medical or therapy advice?
CoachingHealthCompliance
By keeping your work inside a clear, written scope. Coaching helps a client set goals and follow through. Diagnosing a condition, treating it, or recommending a course of treatment is the practice of medicine or of a licensed mental health profession, and every state restricts both to licensed professionals. Some states also license nutrition and dietetic advice. A coach who crosses that line risks a complaint to a state board, and the coaching agreement is the first place a board or a court will look.
Where the line usually sits
- Fine: accountability, habits, goal setting, general education about sleep, movement or stress.
- Risky: telling a client what to do about a diagnosed condition, a medication or an eating disorder.
- Over the line: diagnosing, treating, or calling yourself a therapist, counselor or nutritionist where those titles are licensed.
What the agreement should say
That you are a coach and not a doctor, therapist or other licensed provider, that coaching is not a substitute for medical or mental health care, and that the client should keep seeing their own providers. Add that you will refer the client out if a medical or mental health issue comes up, and then do it. A disclaimer only helps if the way you actually work matches it.
Watch the marketing too
Claims about results, such as weight lost or anxiety cured, are advertising claims, and the FTC expects health claims to be backed by evidence. "Clients report feeling more focused" is a different statement from "my program treats ADHD".
What to do
- Write your scope into the coaching agreement, with the not-a-substitute language.
- Keep a short list of licensed providers you refer clients to.
- Avoid licensed titles you do not hold.
- Cut health outcome claims from your sales page unless you can support them.
Related questions
Written by the lawyers who built Arabella. This is legal information, not legal advice for your situation, and reading it does not make us your lawyers. For a real dispute or a high-stakes decision, talk to a licensed attorney. More questions.