I get this question ALL the time. Understanding the difference isn’t intuitive, so asking this question is important if you’re looking for the kind of help that matches your needs. As a therapist and coach, it’s clear to me when I am counseling vs coaching. It’s not always clear to others.
Here are some differences:
Coaching
- While there are no mandates for offering coaching services, it is highly recommended that a person receives a coaching certification. Coaching does not require an advanced degree.
- Mostly focused on the present and future. Coaching can facilitate a way to focus on what’s presently happening in your life that contributes to what you desire in the future.
- Identifies goals and develops a plan to achieve them. Through accountability, education, and practices coaching can be highly effective for reaching your life ambitions.
- Creates a plan to get clear on your purpose and desires. Reflection and personal development exercises can finetune what you want. With precision anything is possible!
- Safely challenges you to get outside your comfort zone. By taking calculated risks, you grow your perspective, energy and capacity, and opportunities.
- Accountability is a critical part of coaching if you really want certain things in your life. Through consistency, persistence, and gentle nudging you get closer to making your dreams reality.
- Does not require a diagnosis and, most of the time, cannot be billed to insurance. However, some health savings accounts do accept coaching services.
Therapy
- Is provided by a licensed mental health professional and has graduated with an advanced degree (i.e., masters, specialist, or doctorate). State licensure is required to provide therapy.
- Mostly focuses on the past and/or present. Therapy can be about processing whatever problem or issue your experiencing and digging into what past events, people, or situations have occurred that contribute to your current distress.
- Can be about processing and navigating emotions. Identifying what you’re feeling and knowing how to manage the feelings can empower you.
- Identifies and reframes unhelpful thoughts. Often, we have thoughts that contribute to our distress. Learning how to notice when and how the thoughts arise can be a great first step! Creating new thinking patterns allows for new patterns to emerge.
- Focuses on healing parts from past hurts, grief, or traumas. Many of us have gone through difficult things. Therapy provides a place to work with these deeply and effectively.
- Manages symptoms as identified by the client. Often, a person is experiencing distress that is impacting their daily life. Therapy can be a great way to reduce symptoms.
- If you’re receiving therapy, there is usually a diagnosis required for services provided and/or insurance billing.
- Is required to adhere to the state guidelines and mental health code ethics.
Therapy is like physical therapy. You might be rehabilitating parts of yourself, unlearning patterns, relearning new ones. The work may be oriented in the past.
Coaching is like personal training. You are identifying goals and aspirations; creating a plan to accomplish them. The work may be future oriented. You CAN do both simultaneously and can be incredibly beneficial to your personal wellbeing and growth.
As both a therapist and coach, I am adept at knowing the difference and navigating mental, emotional, and spiritual issues as they come up to ensure you are well-cared for!
Stick around for Part 2: What Are Topics to Bring to Therapy? vs. What Are Topics to Bring to Coaching?
Lighting the Path 