Instead, Gemma received what she now considers “awful advice”. For instance, the coach told her to phone a client who was a few days late with paying, and “demand payment… to show the universe I wasn’t messing around. It would have probably soured the relationship with my client. I stopped trusting what she was telling me,” she says.

Ash, 28, felt similarly ill-advised when she fell down a rabbit hole of TikTok manifestation videos that promised she could ‘manifest her ex’ back into her life. “My friends and family had always hated him, but I ignored them and focused all my energy on wishing him back, literally visualising the texts I wanted to receive from him.” She never heard from him and, a year later, she’s moved on after meeting a new partner on a dating app. “Would I have signed up sooner if I’d stopped willing the universe to bring my ex and me back together?” she asks. “Maybe!”

Manifesting may also attract those who are feeling in a “vulnerable place in their life”, says psychologist Bonnie Zucker. Looking back, Natalie – who was recovering from a breakup when she signed up for her course – says this vulnerability was the biggest common factor between her and other participants. “Every single woman in the group was going through something like a divorce, the death of a parent or recovering from an illness.”

Individuals struggling with fertility journeys are also commonly targeted by the manifestation industry. Julianne Boutaleb, a consultant postnatal psychologist and founder of Parenthood in Mind, tells me she has encountered several clients who have come to her after having bad experiences with such manifestation coaches. “Many clients have serious gynaecological conditions like fibroids or genetic issues, and none of these issues can be helped with a change in mindset. At worst, these coaches are offering false hope and toxic positivity. The dark side is that it’s adding to a woman’s sense of failure and self-blame – convincing her that she doesn’t have the right psychological readiness to become a mother.”

“I spent thousands with nothing to show for it”: the dark side of manifestation