Now, the profession claims to be the second fastest-growing industry worldwide and is successfully cashing in on growing unemployment figures and a highly unstable job-market.

But the industry is entirely unregulated, and with nearly 180,000 Scots currently out of work and desperate to enhance their career prospects there are fertile pickings for any soi disant life coach.

Scot Moira Russell, managing director of life and image-coaching business Lifexpression, says the unregulated nature of the industry is potentially dangerous for the newly-unemployed and vulnerable.

"We have been hit very hard by the banking crisis and people are scared even if they have got a job, if they lose their job they are left unsure of what to do," she said.

"Life coaching is hugely valuable in analysing what people want to do next and how they will work to achieve their aims but the process can be dangerous if the coach is not properly trained.

"It is very important that we have a regulatory body put in place."

Glasgow-based coach Jaelithe Leigh-Brown agrees that regulation can only improve the industry, estimated to have 120,000 coaches currently operating, but adds that using commonsense to search for a reputable coach can make a long-lasting, positive impact on a client’s life.

Mrs Leigh-Brown, who set up her firm, Mrs Mojo, just over a year ago, said: "I’m not surprised that life-coaching is growing so rapidly in the current climate.

"People are looking for a way of improving their lives and focusing what they want. Coaches provide a toolkit that can be brought out and used even when coaching ends.

"There are industry bodies such as the Association for Coaching and New Insights that provide accreditation for new coaches, but I would definitely call for regulation for the industry."

Thomas J Leonard, who founded the Coach U centre in Arizona in 1992, is generally credited for creating the life coach concept. Two years after founding his fledgling coaching centre he set up the

Now,

International Coach Federation, pusing the idea overseas. life coaches are largely hatched in batches with anyone, from accredited psychologists with years of experience to people taking a two-day course and printing some fancy business cards, can set themselves up in the profession.

Fees for the service vary from around £30 to £90 an appointment and costs can run into the hundreds for the recommended block of sessions.

Without a regulatory body or register of practising life coaches it is impossible to say how many are operating in Scotland but UK-wide there are thought to be in the region of 120,000.

In the past few years, the coaching business has boomed, becoming slowly more mainstream.

In 2006, it was revealed that then health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, was receiving life coaching, along with employees in No.10, the Cabinet Office, Foreign Office and Treasury, all from the taxpayer’s pocket.

Hilary Clinton and Ruby Wax are both firm fans while, oddly, former death row Scot Kenny Ritchie was accompanied by former Blue Peter and Songs of Praise presenter-turned life coach Diane Louise Jordan on his release from prison.

Coaches say they are approached by people who have been prompted to improve their lives by approaching significant milestones or upsets; round-figured birthdays, retirement, redundancy and empty-nest syndrome.

Jenny Kumar was facing her thirtieth birthday and a career change when she decided to enlist the help of a life coach. She had recently set up a communications businesses she was determined to see thrive and, despite being in a relationship, she looked likely to fail in her goal of being engaged by the age of 30.

Following thirteen sessions of life-coaching, she says she achieved her aim of focusing her business - and her boyfriend proposed on her birthday.

Ms Kumar’s experiences have led her to believe the skills used in life-coaching should be taught in schools.

"The life coach I saw pushed me to work out what I wanted from life and asked very insightful questions to find out how I was going to achieve my aims," the 31-year-old said.

"I only wish I had seen a life coach sooner and I even think it should be taught in schools so children from a young age can focus on what they want to achieve.

"At the same time, regulation is vital as coaches are picking apart people’s lives and delving into their emotions, which could be damaging in the wrong hands."