🔴 LIVE : Le côté sombre du coaching

**The Dark Side of Coaching and the Path to Professional Excellence** In this session, David Lefrançois addresses a critical and personal subject: the current state of the coaching industry. Despite a global market valued at over 20 billion dollars, the industry remains largely unregulated. In most countries, anyone can declare themselves a coach overnight without a diploma, clinical validation, or mandatory supervision. This lack of oversight has led to what Lefrançois describes as a "corrupt" industry that often fails to deliver lasting transformation. He identifies four specific "pathological mechanisms" that are currently undermining the profession and explains how neuroscience offers an antidote to these failings. **The Four Pathologies of Modern Coaching** The first pathology is "Placebo Coaching." This is driven by the Dunning-Kruger effect, where individuals with minimal training—such as a two-day weekend certification—massively overestimate their competence. From a neurological perspective, the prefrontal cortex requires between 12 to 18 months of deliberate practice to develop the metacognitive circuits necessary to accurately evaluate one's own skills in a complex field like human psychology. A coach trained in 48 hours is neurologically incapable of recognizing their own gaps. They may be charismatic and provide a temporary "dopamine boost" to clients, but once this initial hope fades, the client often relapses, concluding that coaching simply doesn't work. The second pathology is "Vampiric Coaching" related to trauma. In recent years, thousands of coaches have begun marketing themselves as experts in healing childhood wounds and "releasing" trauma without any clinical training. Lefrançois warns that this is dangerous. Memory is not a fixed recording; when a traumatic memory is reactivated, it enters a "reconsolidation" phase. If this memory is opened without proper emotional regulation or somatic protocols, the brain re-encodes the trauma with even greater emotional intensity. This creates "vampiric" dependency: the client returns weekly to cry and feel understood, triggering oxytocin and reward systems that make them feel better momentarily, but no real neurobiological change occurs. The third pathology is "Decorative Coaching," predominantly found in the corporate world. Companies often purchase six-session packages for managers as a public relations move to show they care about human capital. However, neuroscience dictates that durable behavioral change requires the formation of new automatisms in the basal ganglia and the restructuring of prefrontal circuits. Research shows that forming a simple new habit takes an average of 66 days, while complex leadership behaviors require between 18 and 254 repetitions. Six sessions of 45 minutes cannot produce the neurobiological conditions for lasting change. Everyone involved—HR directors and coaching firms—often knows this, yet the cycle continues because the metric used is "immediate satisfaction" rather than "behavioral transformation measured at six months." The fourth pathology is the "Ghost Coach." This refers to coaches who have never undergone a deep personal transformation themselves. According to polyvagal theory and the concept of co-regulation, a coach’s autonomic nervous system directly influences the client’s physiological state. If a coach is in a state of chronic threat or survival mode, their micro-expressions and vocal tone will unconsciously signal insecurity to the client. This causes the client’s capacity for exploration to collapse. A coach cannot give what they do not have; if they are not regulated and transformed, their tools and questions—no matter how "powerful"—will remain ineffective. **The Four Pillars of Quality Coaching** To combat these pathologies, Lefrançois outlines four mandatory pillars for a professional coaching practice. First, coaches must use validated protocols. Serious coaching relies on mechanisms that are identifiable, measurable, and reproducible based on science, moving beyond mere "intuition." These protocols must target synaptic restructuring through spaced practice and guided reconsolidation. Second, the coach must undergo their own transformation. This is not just "personal development" but a neurobiological requirement for efficacy. Quality coaching is predicted by the practitioner’s ability to maintain an authentic, non-defensive engagement, which can only be achieved through rigorous work on one's own autonomic nervous system. Third, the industry must move from measuring "satisfaction" to measuring "transformation." Professional standards should require evaluating behavioral indicators at three, six, and twelve months post-coaching. Using validated clinical tools and self-efficacy scales provides the "uncomfortable" data necessary for true accountability. Fourth, permanent supervision is essential. Without an external gaze—ideally from a supervisor with a clinical background—a coach inevitably develops blind spots and regresses into "autopilot" mode. Supervision is the mechanism that maintains the coach’s neurobiological efficacy and ensures they stay in real contact with the client's needs. **Conclusion: Elevating the Standard** Lefrançois concludes by emphasizing that the role of a coach is a heavy responsibility. In a world increasingly plagued by anxiety and a loss of meaning, the need for high-quality accompaniment has never been greater. He critiques the French administrative systems and funding models (like the CPF) for "pulling the industry downward" by adhering to outdated standards and refusing to acknowledge the necessity of neurobiological regulation in coaching. For Lefrançois, the future of the profession lies in "neurological authenticity" and a commitment to excellence that prioritizes the final user: the client. He encourages aspiring coaches to seek training that demands high standards, ensures personal transformation, and provides the scientific foundation necessary to do no harm and effect real change.