What’s the difference between therapy & coaching?
If there is a question I get more often than any other it’s this one.
And it’s understandable why! Both services are there to help support people make changes in their lives and can be done individually or as a couple. And to be honest, there are a lot of people out there who are practicing therapy that are doing a lot of things that coaches do and there are lots of coaches out there who are acting like therapists. It really is no wonder this can get very confusing, so let me lay it out for you here so you can decide for yourself which one feels like the best fit for you.
THERAPY
Therapy is health care. The purpose of therapy is to help treat and manage a diagnosable mental health condition. In therapy, you can explore deep into the past or go into the emotional depths behind why you are the way you are. You can spend weeks or months trying to understand how your childhood impacts your present-day anxiety, which makes it hard for you to connect with people on a genuine level. It can help you recover from years-long struggles with substance abuse, eating disorders, or help you recover from postpartum depression.
Therapy is geographically limited. Therapists can only practice in states where they are licensed (i.e. I’m an LMFT in both Illinois and Utah).
Therapy helps you feel more like you again.
COACHING
Coaching is about growth. If you’re feeling stuck in old patterns that you’re ready to break free from but aren’t sure where to start, that’s where coaching can come in. If you’re relationship has struggled with communication problems for years, a coach can provide a practical way to help improve and build new ways or communicating and relating to your partner. If you’re getting married and want to make sure you’re having the big important conversations before you say “I do” then a premarital coaching program can get you there! It’s a future-focused, goal-oriented, and collaborative process between coach and client. It is more structured than therapy and does often ask more of you, as the client, because you’re looking for tangible change.
Coaching can be done anywhere! There is a lot of freedom that comes with coaching, especially in the virtual age. I have worked with clients in multiple countries spanning four continents since I began working as a coach.
Coaching brings you closer to the life you want to have.
WHICH DO I NEED?
This is definitely a topic for it’s own blog post someday. But for now, the benefit of working with a therapist who also coaches, like myself, is that I have the unique ability to understand your current concerns and needs to help you determine what is going to be the appropriate service for you during our consultation call. Ready to get started? Book a consultation with me today!
