THE COACH AS A PLACEBO

Another way to think about what you bring into the coaching session and conversation is the idea that, as a professional Coach, you can operate as a placebo. Of course, the problem is that you can also operate as a ‘nocebo.’ And operating in these ways, to the healthful benefit of your client or to your client’s distress mostly occurs unconsciously— outside of your awareness.

Technically, a placebo is usually a pill which facilitates a client to respond in a way that brings healing, well-being, energy, and strength in spite of the fact that is not chemically active. It has no chemically active ingredients in it, it is an inert sugar pill, and yet the way a person responds to it enables the client to reduce pain, diminish negative symptoms, activate healing processes within the mind and body, etc. One of the absolutely fascinating things about placebos is that every new pill, surgery, and intervention medically is tested against a placebo. That means we have, and we continue to, study the effect of placebos which range from 20 to 70 percent effective.