The Double-Edged Sword of Empowerment
In the transformational coaching space, we talk a lot about being “at cause.” It’s the concept of considering yourself to be the creator of your universe, the one who decides what is real, the one who is the cause of every effect.
It is an incredibly powerful framework. When a client grasps it, they stop waiting for the world to save them and start building the life they actually want.
But I am fiercely cautious about how we use this tool. Because very often, this concept is weaponized.
What This Is: The Ethics of “At Cause”
I have very strict criteria for how “at cause” thinking is applied. The rule is simple, but non-negotiable: You only ever apply it from now to the future. You never, ever apply it retrospectively.
You never look at a client who has survived abuse, illness, or systemic oppression and ask, “How did you create that horrible past experience?”
As someone who has been in some horrific situations and been on the receiving end of that exact brand of spiritual victim-blaming, I have zero tolerance for it. It is not enlightened. It is cruel.
Why This Matters for Conscious Practitioners
If you are working with the “rational mystic”—intelligent, self-aware clients who are doing deep work—they will smell toxic spirituality a mile away.
If you tell a client that their “low vibration” caused their trauma, you don’t empower them. You shame them. You take a person who has already been harmed by the world and you add the burden of cosmic guilt to their shoulders. That is not healing. That is just a new invisible prison.
The Hidden Pattern of Spiritual Bypassing
The common misunderstanding in the coaching industry is that if we acknowledge that bad things happen to good people for no spiritual reason, we lose our power. Coaches are terrified of the concept of randomness or systemic injustice, so they force the “you created it” framework onto everything to maintain a sense of control.
But true empowerment doesn’t require you to take the blame for your own trauma.
The Benefits of Forward-Looking Empowerment
When you apply the “at cause” framework ethically—only looking forward—you create:
- True Safety: Your clients feel validated in their past experiences, knowing you won’t blame them for their pain.
- Real Agency: They can take ownership of their future without having to audit their past for “vibrational errors.”
- Ethical Authority: You position yourself as a grounded, trauma-informed practitioner who understands the complexity of the human experience.
How to Use This in Your Practice
The next time a client brings you a painful history, do not ask them how they manifested it. Validate their experience. Acknowledge that we live in a complex, messy human world.
Then, pivot to the present. Ask: “Given where we are right now, what do you want to create next? What needs to shift internally for you to build a future of joy and bliss?”
Build the Future, Don’t Audit the Past
We use the power of intention to build the future, not to audit the past. Empowerment that requires shame isn’t empowerment at all.
