The rich pay me up to $150k to teach their kids to be less SELFISH. Offenses range from out-of-control spending to cheating… but here’s the truth

A life coach for the children of the ultrawealthy who is paid tens of thousands of dollars to help get them out of trouble has lifted the lid on her unusual job.

Aprajita Ranjini Anand, 42, from Brooklyn, New York, started her career off by working as an educational consultant for families after receiving her Master’s Degree in Public Health for health behavior and health education.

While she initially focused on helping kids succeed academically, as the years went by she realized that some children – particularly those from rich families – needed more assistance with ‘personal and professional development.’

She now spends her days coaching the offspring of the wealthy in an attempt to help them ‘navigate the core issues their wealth brings.’

She explained exclusively to the Daily Mail that families often come to her when they are in ‘crisis.’

‘Parents see a child who is withdrawing from academic, social or family life and they want to intervene before the child spirals into very damaging patterns of behavior,’ she explained.

Other times, she is hired as more of a ‘preventative’ measure simply because parents ‘can afford it’ and want to ensure the best for their child.

Anand’s fee varies ‘depending on the client’s needs’ but ranges from $4,500 to a whopping $146,000 for the most severe cases.

She said she’s worked with teens who ‘abuse alcohol or other substances,’ are suffering from a ‘spending addiction’ or ‘failing’ school.

So what exactly does she do? Well, the life coach explained that her main goal is to help eliminate any egocentricity in rich children and young adults, usually aged 13 to 25.

‘[I provide a] key shift from self-centeredness to becoming service-oriented,’ she told the Daily Mail.

‘Thinking externally about how they might be of service to others, even in small ways, makes them feel more connected and less down.’

Anand said she also helps them move away from extrinsic motivation, which is when someone engages in an activity to earn external rewards or validation.

In addition, she teaches the wealthy offspring to focus on what they can control internally rather than externally.

‘We can all benefit from this shift, which involves seeing ourselves as actors in the world rather than passive recipients of our destiny,’ Anand told the Daily Mail.

While Anand admitted that many of her clients ‘act out,’ she made it clear that she is not a fan of the word ‘spoiled.’ 

‘Think about things we refer to as spoiled,’ she said. ‘Mostly it’s food, and we toss it out – there’s no rescuing it. That’s an unfair frame to put on a child.’

Anand explained that something she calls ‘acting in’ is equally as common of a behavior for her clients as acting out can be. 

‘Parents often call me when a young person is turning inward by withdrawing from family, academic or social life,’ she said.

‘Even if they don’t experience anything extreme, such as addiction, they still often feel a deep-seated, chronic sense of hopelessness about their lives, despite the abundance of resources they have.

‘I’ve worked with older boys and young men who spend almost all their time on their phones or laptops, playing video games and such, numbing themselves with alcohol and drugs and generally withdrawing. 

‘They don’t have much of an in-person social life. They are disconnected and very unhappy. They are dramatically underperforming their potential.’

As for how her coaching process works, Anand explained that first comes the ‘needs assessment phase.’ This involves the parents ‘agreeing on goals, diagnosing the issues or barriers and outlining strategies that will help the child or young adult move in the right direction.’

‘Then I help my clients figure out how to implement the strategies,’ she said. ‘Sometimes I help families access a range of services from other providers. Sometimes I am directly involved in implementing the strategies.’

She told the Daily Mail that some of her clients ‘have a strong initial resistance’ while others try to ‘charm her’ and ‘avoid the changes they need to make.’

‘I am not distracted by charm or personality… That’s why my clients call me the teen whisperer,’ she said.

And while she is determined to help them, she said she refuses to work with someone who doesn’t have ‘ethical standards.’ 

‘In one case, a former client violated my ethical standards. In a moment of panic, she cheated on a college exam,’ Anand recalled.

‘She came clean to me about it, and I encouraged her to speak to her professor, confess what she had done, and face the consequences. She refused, and so I ended our work together.’

According to the life coach, most wealthy kids share two core problems: not growing up with the ‘normal balance of challenges and achievements’ and nobody believing that their ‘problems are valid’ because they’re so privileged.

‘Their access to unlimited resources is itself part of the problem,’ she said. ‘If they achieve something, they and others [often] feel it’s because of their resources.’

She also said there is often a lack of sympathy for children of privilege when it comes to issues they may face. This, she said, is due to their access to seemingly unlimited resources. The children then can begin ‘internalizing this belief.’

‘If they face challenges, they feel these are not valid for someone in their condition,’ Anand told the Daily Mail. ‘It’s a paradox. I have become very skilled at leading them out of this maze.’

Anand said she has found that rich children’s development has often been ‘hindered’ by their wealth. But she believes that at the end of the day, all they need is a little bit of disciplined care.

‘Acting spoiled or acting out represents bids for attention,’ the expert added. ‘The kind of attention they need is tough love from a coach, which is what I provide.’