salt lake city — A bill that would have regulated life coaching in Utah has hit a wall, leaving experts worried about families seeking help.
Ruby Franke’s estranged husband, Kevin, has called on lawmakers to take action against life coaches before more families like his are harmed.
Sen. David Hinkins read a letter from Kevin Franke during a committee hearing Monday.
Franke writes: “I am here to speak directly to you as I am on your behalf supporting one of my children who is recovering from violence at the hands of my ex-wife Ruby and licensed therapist Jody Hildebrandt. I apologize for not being able to do so.”
Franke claims that Hildebrandt’s life coaching scheme destroyed his family.
“One of the challenges I’m seeing more and more is that there are different coaching types and different specialties emerging,” said Dave Eldridge of the Huntsman Mental Health Institute.
Franke writes that these coaches often refer to themselves as “coaches,” “guides,” “mentors,” “trainers,” or “gurus.”
Eldridge said formal titles are important.
“Licensed clinical social workers, LCSWs, CMHCS, clinical mental health counselors, LMFTS, and licensed marriage and family therapists are also good routes,” Eldridge said.
Franke points out that life coaches are not accountable to a professional community or committee.
That’s a question people seeking therapy should ask, Eldridge said.
“Do they have a legal, valid license, are they there, are they cited, are there issues with their status and license,” Eldridge added.
He encourages people to contact their health care provider for help finding a formal mental health professional.
“They can start medications, they can start vetted referrals,” Eldridge said.
The Utah Department of Professional Licensing has an online electronic verification tool.
“Anytime a license is suspended or revoked, you definitely want to review it and get detailed information about it,” Eldridge said.
Eldridge said credentialing is required to formally diagnose someone.
“Having the proper education and licensing to play that role is very important because it can cause a lot of harm,” he said.
Franke wrote that his wife paid Hildebrandt $10,000 to be trained as a certified mental health fitness trainer.
“Of course, there are a lot of things you can do to ultimately develop the skills, but again, it’s very different from psychotherapy,” Eldridge said.
Licensed clinical social workers say people seeking help are vulnerable.
He doesn’t want unqualified people taking advantage of them.
“Trust what you’re feeling and probe some of these questions,” he recommended.
