How to find an ethical integration coach: 8 questions to ask before you hire one

Anyone can call themselves an integration coach. Before you share something tender with one, find out how they were trained, what they will and will not do, and who they answer to if something goes wrong.

Key takeaways

• Integration coaching is not licensed as its own profession, so the title alone tells you little. Ask questions before you hire.
• Ask for the coach's disclosure form. A professional coach can hand you one that answers every question in this post.
• Ask which ethics code the coach follows and where you could file a complaint.
• A good coach works alongside therapists and doctors and tells you when you need one.
• You can take your time. A coach who pushes you to decide fast is showing you something.

After a ceremony, a retreat, a spiritual awakening, or a loss, many people feel open and unsure at the same time. It can help to talk with someone who knows this ground. The coach you choose in that window matters, because you will be sharing things you may not have put into words before. These eight questions help you find a coach who will treat that trust with care.

What an integration coach does, and does not do

An integration coach helps you prepare for a big experience and make sense of it afterward. You talk about what happened, what it meant to you, and what you want to change in your daily life. Some coaches, including the ones we train, also use time in nature as part of the work.

An integration coach does not provide, source, dose, administer, or recommend any substance. A coach does not sit with you during a psychedelic experience. A coach does not diagnose or treat a mental health or medical condition. Those are different roles, and some of them need a license. A coach who offers to do any of them is working outside coaching.

Start with the coach's disclosure form

A professional coach has a disclosure form. It is a written document that answers every question in this post: how the coach was trained, what they do and never do, the ethics code they follow, how they keep what you share private, what they charge, and how they start and end work with clients.

If you ask a coach any of the questions below, they should be able to say, "Here's a copy of my disclosure form." Ask for it before your first paid session, and read it before you sign anything.

1. Where did you train, and did your training screen who got in?

Integration coaching is a young field, and some trainings accept anyone who can pay. That means a certificate on its own does not tell you much.

Ask the coach where they trained and how long the training was. Then ask whether they had to apply, and whether anyone was turned away. A coach who came through a careful training can usually tell you what it looked for. You can also ask how much of their training was live practice with an instructor watching.

2. Can I see your scope of practice in writing?

A scope of practice says what a coach does and what they never do. A trustworthy coach puts it in their disclosure form and will send it to you.

Read it for clear lines. It should say the coach does not provide, source, or recommend any substance, does not sit with you during an experience, and does not diagnose or treat. If the coach is vague, or says they can "do a bit of everything," keep looking.

3. Which ethics code do you follow, and where could I file a complaint?

An ethics code gives you something to hold a coach to. Many coaches follow the ICF Code of Ethics from the International Coaching Federation. It covers confidentiality, honest description of a coach's skills, and how coaches handle conflicts of interest.

A code matters most when someone outside the coach's own business can enforce it. The ICF accepts complaints from coaching clients about its members and credential holders. Outside investigators look into each complaint, and a review panel decides the outcome. You can check whether a coach holds an ICF credential on the ICF website.

Ask the coach which outside body they answer to. If the answer is no one, you would have nowhere to go if something went wrong.

4. When would you send me to a therapist or a doctor?

A good integration coach knows where coaching ends. Some things that come up after a big experience need a therapist. Some need a doctor.

Ask the coach how they decide when to refer. Ask whether they know therapists and medical providers they trust. A coach who says they can replace therapy, or who tells you to stop seeing your therapist or stop a medication, is a coach to walk away from.

5. How do you keep what I share private?

You may tell your coach things you have told no one else. Ask how they store notes, who can see them, and when they would ever share what you said. A good coach explains the limits of privacy at the start, in plain words, before you need to know them.

6. Where do your practices come from?

Much of this work draws on ceremonies, practices, and plant traditions that belong to Indigenous and other living cultures. An ethical coach can tell you where their practices come from and who they learned them from.

Be careful with a coach who presents themselves as a keeper of a tradition they were not given. Respect for a tradition sounds like credit and humility, not a claim to own it.

7. Who supports you as a coach?

Good coaches keep learning. Ask whether the coach has a mentor, a supervisor, or a group of peers they talk with about hard cases, without sharing your name. A coach who works with no one is a coach with no one to catch their mistakes.

8. What do you charge, and how do you start and end work with a client?

Ask what a session costs, what a package includes, and what happens if you want to stop.

A professional coach has a clear, well-organized process for bringing on a new client and for ending the work. Ask how you would begin: a first conversation, a written agreement, and the disclosure form. Ask how the work ends: a closing session, what happens to your notes, and where the coach would send you if you need more support. All of this belongs in the disclosure form, so you can read it before you pay.

Many coaches offer a short first conversation at no cost. Use it to see how you feel with them. You should leave that call with more clarity, not more pressure.

Red flags to watch for

• The coach offers to provide, source, or recommend a substance, or to sit with you during an experience.
• They tell you what your experience "really" meant instead of helping you find your own meaning.
• They tell you to stop seeing a therapist or to change a medication.
• They promise to heal you, cure you, or fix a condition.
• They push you to buy a large package before you have had a first conversation.
• They ask you to keep your work with them secret.
• They show romantic or sexual interest in you.
• They will not tell you where they trained or which ethics code they follow.
• They have no disclosure form or written agreement to give you.

When to see a therapist or doctor instead

Coaching is a good fit when you feel steady enough to look at your experience and make choices about your life. Some moments call for a licensed professional first. Reach out to a therapist or your doctor if:

• Distress, fear, or sadness is not easing, or is getting worse.
• You cannot sleep, eat, or do your daily tasks for days at a time.
• You keep seeing or hearing things that stay with you after the experience.
• You have questions about a medication, a symptom, or your physical health.

If you are thinking about harming yourself, call or text 988 in the U.S. to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or call 911. You can still work with a coach later, and alongside your care.

How coaches trained at Earth-Based Institute answer these questions

We have trained coaches since 2008. Our Nature-Based Integration Coaching (NBIC) program trains coaches to meet the standards in this post.

• Screening: every NBIC applicant completes an application and has a conversation with someone on our team before acceptance. Not everyone who applies is accepted.
• Scope: NBIC graduates support people before and after a big experience. They do not provide, source, dose, administer, sit for, or recommend any substance, and they do not diagnose or treat.
• Ethics: NBIC follows the ICF's competencies and ethics for professional coaches.
• Referral: we train coaches to know where coaching ends and to work alongside therapists, physicians, and licensed clinicians.
• Disclosure and process: we teach graduates to write a disclosure form and a clear process for starting and ending work with clients.

Use these eight questions with any coach you are thinking about hiring, including one of ours.

Want to become this kind of coach?

If you are a coach, guide, or helper who wants to do this work with care, read How to choose an ethical integration coach training, or learn about Nature-Based Integration Coaching.

FAQ

What does an integration coach do?

An integration coach helps you prepare for a big experience and make sense of it afterward. Together you look at what happened, what it meant to you, and what you want to change in your daily life. A coach does not provide or guide the experience itself, and does not diagnose or treat.

Is an integration coach the same as a therapist?

No. A therapist is licensed to diagnose and treat mental health conditions. A coach is not. A coach helps you turn what you learned into changes in your life. Many people work with both, and a good coach will tell you when a therapist is the better fit.

How do I know if an integration coach is legit?

Ask for their disclosure form. It should tell you where they trained, what they do and never do, which ethics code they follow, what they charge, and how they start and end work with clients. A trustworthy coach hands it over and gives you time to decide.

What should be in an integration coach's disclosure form?

Their training, their scope of practice, the ethics code they follow and where you could file a complaint, how they keep what you share private, when they would refer you to a therapist or doctor, their prices, and how they start and end work with clients. If a question in this post is not answered in the form, ask the coach about it.

Can an integration coach give me psychedelics or sit with me during a session?

An integration coach trained by Earth-Based Institute does not. NBIC graduates do not provide, source, dose, administer, sit for, or recommend any substance. Their work happens before and after an experience. If a coach offers any of these, they are working in the realm of facilitation, which is outside the scope of integration coaching.

When should I see a therapist or doctor instead of an integration coach?

See a licensed professional if distress is not easing, if you cannot sleep, eat, or work for days, if you see or hear things that stay with you, or if you have questions about a medication or a symptom. If you are thinking about harming yourself, call or text 988 in the U.S., or call 911.

Related reading: What is Nature-Based Integration Coaching? · Should you become a coach or a therapist? · How to choose an ethical integration coach training

Michael Jospe, PCC, is the founder and lead instructor of Earth-Based Institute, an ICF Level 2 accredited Nature-Connected Coaching certification based in Boulder, Colorado. He has trained nature-connected coaches since 2008 and serves as an ICF coach assessor and mentor.