ABSTRACT
John was a manager at the central office of one of the largest estate agents in the country. He was also a regular cocaine user. John was recently married and had a daughter. Before the marriage he and his wife used to take cocaine together, which in John’s words ‘spiced up their sex life’. However, once she became pregnant she stopped. John had not, so she urged him to seek help. John also worried that somebody at work might have noticed that he was using the drug. He had had an executive coaching experience at work, which had given him the idea of finding a life coach to deal with his addiction (he did not dare to bring the drug issue to a coach at work). The life coaching worked really well. John had really liked the down-to-earth, ‘concrete’ approach of his coach. He had seen the coach for about ten sessions and was off cocaine after the fourth session – for about three months. He resumed his old habit within a month or so of his coaching sessions coming to an end. He said he could not cope with the pressure of work and family life, but was too ashamed to go back to his coach. When the Personal Consultant asked about his background, John talked about growing up on a council estate. His father was in and out of prison for petty crimes. John said: ‘I remember a lot of shouting when I was a kid, but all things considered (giggle), I think I had a tough but ok childhood. I don’t remember much though.’ He had been introduced to ‘soft’ drugs when he was 12, but got his act together and managed to get through college and was proud to be ‘the first middle-class member of his family’. When asked if he had talked about his parents and his past with his coach, he responded: ‘No, why should I?’
