Comment by esharte

Come on, that's unfair. It's one thing to be sceptical about this particular product, but the assertion that outside of a clinical, targetted environment, people need to want to receive the help they're getting to benefit is not controversial. If you obstinately refuse to read any courseware or attend any lectures, do you turn around and blame the school when you fail to learn anything from a class?

The sentence could definitely be worded better. When I first read it, I had a similar thought, but upon further reading, I realized I was making a very large and unfair assumption. It's not exactly a secret that people who are already doing pretty well are the ones who have the energy and capacity to make further progress. Struggling with mental health issues, especially executive dysfunction, makes it harder to to do the work required to improve one's mental health. That reality is endlessly frustrating but undeniable. Someone who's not ready to move forward may not have the capacity to benefit from the structure and content of coaching. Coaching is all about taking active steps toward goals between sessions. It takes a lot of energy and effort. When I was just barely treading water, I didn't have the energy for that kind of work. I had to get to that point through therapy, support from friends, and a LOT of rest. Sure, I could have talked to my coach once a week, but I wouldn't have had the capacity to benefit as much as I do now. That doesn't mean it would have been "my fault" if I didn't benefit from coaching; it means I wouldn't have been a good fit, and Shimmer probably wouldn't have taken my money.

That applies to everything where you are being trained in something. My instructor can give me a practice exam, but can't take the real exam for me. A fitness trainer can go grocery shopping with me, but cannot force me to eat healthy.

I read it as “you get out of it what you put into it”