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The field seems to be prospering precisely because it is not therapy. "We're not interested in looking at the past or knowing why you're facing a certain obstacle," says Marcia Reynolds, president of the International Coach Federation, a group that accredits coaches. "We're here to help you get over it and move on." Indeed, fed up with managed care and the constraints of holding sessions at the office, some therapists are throwing out their couches to become coaches. Last month 75 counselors paid $145 apiece to gather in a Columbus, Ohio, hotel to hear coach Ben Dean, a trained psychologist, talk about the virtues of becoming a coach. "Coaching is a train that's leaving the station with or without us," he said. "It lets us stay involved in helping good people make transformative change but thankfully takes the health-care dollar out of the picture."
Of course, coaches don't have all the answers. Renee Kosiarek, 27, a law-school instructor from Oak Park, Ill., started a business last spring called DBS Coaching. DBS stands for dream, believe and succeed. Now she's questioning the decision. "I'm trying to figure out whether I want to continue the business," she says. "It's a decision my own coach is helping me with."