According to the California Code, Business and Professions Code - BPC § 2903:
(a) No person may engage in the practice of psychology, or represent himself or herself to be a psychologist, without a license granted under this chapter, except as otherwise provided in this chapter. The practice of psychology is defined as rendering or offering to render to individuals, groups, organizations, or the public any psychological service involving the application of psychological principles, methods, and procedures of understanding, predicting, and influencing behavior, such as the principles pertaining to learning, perception, motivation, emotions, and interpersonal relationships; and the methods and procedures of interviewing, counseling, psychotherapy, behavior modification, and hypnosis; and of constructing, administering, and interpreting tests of mental abilities, aptitudes, interests, attitudes, personality characteristics, emotions, and motivations.
To me, this sounds like it would cover a lot of behavior that people who market themselves as coaches engage in.
WeTrainLifeCoaches which trains life coaches in California suggests:
There are no legal requirements to become a general life coach in California, so the best way to show your legitimacy to clients is by receiving certification from an agency. The best-known certification agency is The International Coach Federation (ICF), which offers different levels of life coach certification.
As they speak about there not being a legal requirement, it seems like the coaches they train are not automatically licensed via the above-quoted profession code.
In actual case law, where's the line between what coaches can legally do and what they require being licensed under that section?