04 AUGUST 2026 | by AINSLEY

Coaching is expensive

Here's when it's not worth it.

People usually start wondering about coaching for very different reasons.

Maybe continuing exactly as you are no longer feels like an option. Maybe things are going well and you’re wondering whether coaching is only for people who are struggling. Or maybe you’ve realised you’ve been optimising for someone else’s definition of success.

Different circumstances, same question: is coaching actually worth it?

Your skepticism is justified.

Coaching is unregulated. Anyone can call themselves a coach. There is no governing body stopping someone from completing a weekend course, printing business cards, and charging senior leaders significant money for what amounts to enthusiastic nodding and repackaged self-help.

That’s not cynicism. That’s just true.

The coaching industry has a credibility problem because the barrier to entry is almost nonexistent. And the loudest voices in the space are often the ones who figured out visibility before they figured out the work. If you’ve scrolled past enough transformation content and miracle frameworks to have developed a healthy skepticism — good. That instinct is serving you.

So before anything else, here’s what to look for. Proper accreditation through a recognised body like the ICF. A clear methodology, someone you genuinely vibe with. But it has to be more than vibes. A coach should be able to tell you clearly what they do, what they don’t do, and where the boundary between coaching and therapy sits. Because that boundary matters.

At its core, coaching helps capable people get clearer on where they’re going and what’s getting in the way. That simple definition immediately rules out a lot of what gets sold as coaching.

What coaching is not.

It is not therapy. This distinction is not semantic. It’s structural.

Therapy helps people understand, process and heal what has brought them to where they are.

Coaching starts with where you are today, gets clear on where you want to go, and works with what’s in the way of getting there.

A good coach knows this boundary and holds it. And if what you bring to the room is better served somewhere else — by a therapist, by a different kind of coach, by a completely different kind of support — they should be willing to tell you that and point you toward it.

Coaching is a partnership.

It isn’t something that happens to you. The coach is not the one doing the work. You are. A good coaching engagement requires you to show up honestly, to be willing to be challenged, and to act on what becomes clear.

Which means coaching only works if you’re coachable. Not perfectly self-aware, not without blind spots, but open to seeing things differently and willing to do something about what you find. If you’re not in that place right now, the investment probably won’t return what it costs.

When it’s not worth it.

If you’re navigating a mental health crisis, unprocessed grief, or something that requires clinical support, coaching is not the right room. Please find the right room. Coaching can complement therapeutic work but it cannot replace it and a good coach will tell you that directly.

If you’re looking for someone to validate decisions you’ve already made, coaching will frustrate you. The work is built around honest challenge, not comfortable confirmation.

If your organisation is fundamentally dysfunctional—if there’s toxic leadership above you or a culture that punishes the very qualities coaching develops—be realistic about what coaching can and can’t do. It can absolutely help you navigate the system, decide whether to stay, or build the confidence to leave. What it can’t do is change a culture that has no interest in changing.

And if you’re not ready to be the one who does the work, wait. Come back when you are.

When it is.

When you’re not looking to be fixed, you’re looking to go further, think more clearly, lead more deliberately.

Maybe you’re in the middle of something that doesn’t have a name yet. It might be a role that’s changed shape, an opportunity that’s appeared, or a version of yourself that’s outgrown the story you’ve been telling. Just a gap between where you are and where you sense you could be.

You might be thriving and you just want someone in your corner who will push your thinking, challenge your assumptions, and tell you the truth without an agenda, because you’re serious about what comes next.

If you’re standing at a real decision point like a career move, a leadership transition, or a moment that requires more clarity than your usual network can offer.

These are all legitimate reasons to be in the room. They look nothing alike and the coaching looks different too.

What the work actually looks like.

I’m an ICF-accredited executive coach, mind-body practitioner and Lumina practitioner. I’m also not a purely question-based coach.

Some sessions are coaching in the classical sense: holding space, asking the questions that open things up, letting you find what’s already there. Some sessions call for a framework that helps you see a pattern more clearly. Some call for a direct perspective, shared honestly, always with your permission, and always in service of what you’ve said you want.

The work is client-led and future-focused. But it’s also responsive. What you need in the room on any given day shapes what happens there.

Right now I’m working with two clients who couldn’t be more different. One is thriving, sharp, successful, moving fast, and our work is about pushing her thinking further and stress-testing the decisions she’s making at pace. The other is navigating a significant career transition, working through what the next chapter looks like and what has been getting in the way of claiming it. I’m the same coach in both rooms, but the work looks different because what they need from it are completely different.

So. Is it worth it?

I’ve experienced coaching from several sides. I’ve had organisations pay for it when there was a leadership development budget, and I’ve also chosen to invest in it myself. I still work with coaches now, and I work with a therapist too, because I don’t believe I can hold this kind of space for other people without continuing to do my own work.

I know how transformative coaching can be when the right person, the right need and the right timing come together.

Coaching gives you somewhere to think without performing, to make decisions without managing everyone else’s reactions, and to hear your own thinking more clearly than you can when you’re standing inside the problem.

It can help you see the pattern you keep repeating, name what has changed, and move before frustration hardens into resignation. It can sharpen your leadership, widen the choices available to you, and change not only the decision that brought you into the room, but how you make the decisions that follow.

None of that makes coaching a magic wand. It still requires the right coach, the right kind of support and a willingness to do something with what becomes clear.

But when those conditions are there, yes. It can be profoundly worth it.

Ainsley Ericksen is an ICF-accredited executive coach and the founder of ZenZero Coaching and Consulting. She works with leaders through ZeroPoint for Leaders and with growth-stage businesses through ZeroPoint for Brands. Based in British Columbia, she serves clients across North America and internationally.

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