Have you found yourself interested in coaching, and hesitant to “cheat” on your therapist? Well, chances are that your therapist wants you to do what’s best for you. This article will explain the similarities and differences between the therapeutic and coaching fields, outline when each is necessary, and allow you to make an informed decision.
Let me start off by saying that receiving counseling is always beneficial. It is also sometimes necessary when working with a life coach! In coaching, if trauma has not been healed, a good coach will recommend you get in touch with a therapist to sort out what is emotionally holding you back, and may postpone coaching until you have the therapeutic help you need. Coaches are neither educated nor licensed to perform counseling, and it is unethical for one to do so. Coaching is not therapy-in-disguise, nor is it therapy from an unlicensed professional – its not therapy at all! As long as the coach is certified by the ICF (International Coaching Federation), you can rest assured that nothing inside of the partnership will be therapy or counseling.
With that said, let’s take a look at how counseling and coaching are similar. Both fields are of service to their clients, meaning they provide space for the client to realize their wholeness and completeness. Both coaching and therapy offer judgment-free zones where the client is welcome to be open and honest, to self-reflect, have meaningful realizations and breakthroughs, and heal their inner monolog. Therapists and coaches both enable clients to have increased well-being, productivity, and make positive changes in their lives. Both also engage in conversational techniques that lead to self-discovery and breakthroughs. As with therapy, coaching offers a chance to open up to what one is struggling with and work toward a goal. As with coaching, therapy offers an opportunity to gain confidence and peace of mind, and to lay down one’s overwhelm.
Still, there are many differences between these practices! Such differences include: longevity, focus, goal, framework, benefits, and educational requirements of practitioners for each field.
Longevity: Therapy is generally long-term, for months, years, or even a lifetime (and there is absolutely no shame in this – we all have varying degrees of trauma, and it sometimes takes a lifetime to dismantle and heal from). Coaching tends to be more short-term, generally lasting months to one year (although it can continue as long as you like). As long as you are working to create things in your life, you will benefit from having a coach.
Focus: Therapy focuses on the “why.” Therapists aim to understand behaviors and how the patient came to be the way they are now, and offers many benefits such as diagnoses and treatment, prescription for symptom management, and working through pain and painful emotions in a supportive and confidential environment. Coaching focuses on the “how.” Although there may be some exploration of a client’s thought and behavior pattern, the focus is actually in the future on how to take actions that create momentum to achieve the goals they have set and transform themselves. While therapists aim to understand how traumatic events have created problematic behaviors, coaches partner with clients to modify them in order to take action and generate measurable results in their lives.
Goal: With therapy, the goal is to have positive mental health, which is a necessary foundation for any more positive change. Therapists explore the subconscious and unconscious minds of patients to have an in-depth understanding of behaviors and patterns. In coaching, the goals are different with each client, and are determined at both the beginning of the partnership and within each session. The goals are always centering around getting unstuck from self-defense and patterns, following through with declared actions, and achieving the client’s desired results.
Framework: Therapy sessions tend to have less structure compared to coaching sessions. The patient talks about what has happened and how they felt/feel about it, and the counselor is then able to discover and diagnose the illness and create a treatment plan. Coaching sessions have more structure, in comparison, and all explorations are focused on realizing action and growth to enrich the client’s future (both immediate and distant).
Benefits: Therapy offers a wide-range of takeaways: problem-solving techniques, tools to overcome specific mental illness, emotional management, cognitive awareness and different perspectives, and emotional wellness. Coaching offers many (though different) benefits: motivation, confidence, goal setting and achievement, emotional support, accountability and acknowledgment, and getting past mental blocks and survival strategies.
Educational Requirements: Therapists must obtain a Master’s degree before qualifying for a license to practice counseling. Coaching is (for now) an unregulated field, and anyone can call themselves a coach. However, a certified coach will have completed an ACTP (Accredited Coach Training Program) and will have credentialing from the ICF.
As mentioned above, therapy is a positive and healthy choice for anyone, at any time. Coaching, however, is only for mentally healthy people who are ready to make some serious shifts (people who can see their stuff clearly, set goals and take action to achieve them). Change is a stressor in and of itself, so coaching is only for those with a solid mental and emotional health foundation. Think of it like this…
If you don’t know how to swim, it will be very challenging (and even harmful) to go scuba diving and explore another world at the bottom of the ocean. You need to hire a swimming teacher before working with a scuba instructor. The swimming teacher is the therapist, helping you know how to manage your needs – the scuba instructor is the coach, helping you explore new possibilities, take different actions and have new experiences.
Contact a therapist if:
- Events from the past are holding you back
- You’re experiencing symptoms of anxiety, depression or another mental health challenge
- You’ve experienced and are unable to move past trauma
- You’re experiencing ongoing emotional distress
- You find yourself in a pattern of dysfunctional relationships
Contact a life coach if:
- You’re ready to get clear about what you want in life and what’s in your way
- Your goals are to build a certain future (not talk about or heal from the past)
- You need accountability to achieve your goals
- You feel you aren’t meeting your full potential
- You desire a more fulfilling and purpose-driven life
While we’ve already discussed some of the benefits of working with either a therapist or life coach, there are even more benefits to working with both at the same time (both for the patient/client and the practitioners).
Need More Healing: Coaching can be triggering, by nature. Coaches partner with clients to get out of their comfort zone and effect lasting change in their lives, and the survival mechanism (ego, inner child, shadow, subconscious, etc.) at first resists this at all costs. It does so by bringing up all the triggers, trauma, and reasons that what the client is up to is impossible. Good coaches have been trained to uphold the ICF’s Code of Ethics. This includes NOT acting as therapists, and often, referring to therapists before continuing the partnership. By having achieved self-awareness and coping skills through therapy, people are in a healthy space to build a new life.
Reduced Overwhelm for Therapeutic Practitioners: One of the results of the many emotional hazards of therapy is “burnout.” Burnout is an emotional exhaustion/fatigue brought on by “psychic poisoning,” “vicarious traumatization,” demonization from patients, helplessness and a sense of inefficiency, an inability to shut off the therapeutic stance, and constant worry and distraction. Although many counselors use personal and professional practices to reduce the onset of burnout, these practices are not always enough – and a therapeutic practitioner cannot be effective for themselves or others when under this level of stress. What’s worse is that the global pandemic of 2020 has increased the workloads and waitlists of psychologists, and practitioners are feeling the pressure of working at or beyond their capacity for many years already. In 2021, 41% were unable to meet the demand for treatment, and 46% felt burned out. With numbers like that, the majority of the therapeutic professional’s collective are lacking the emotional bandwidth to practice personal restoration, offer one another adequate support, grow as individuals, and make time for family and friends.
In an effort to support themselves, their peers and their patients, pursuing partnerships with certified life coaches is a potential and viable path forward. By partnering with coaches in a professional referral relationship, they can more effectively “graduate” their patients (once deemed stable). The period where treatment in therapy and partnership with a coach overlap can restore hope and a sense of efficiency for the doctors. And as patients find a sense of confidence, motivation and momentum, they can move onward from therapy, thus allowing new patients to receive the therapeutic services they need.
(Please note that if you are concerned with cheating on your therapist, you are likely not a big contributing factor in their burnout. However, these are some experiences that your therapist may be having.)
Now, we understand how both counseling and coaching are helping people be healthy and better their lives. We have discussed the similarities and differences between these fields. We have also determined that therapy is for healing past trauma and gaining a stable foundation on which to build, and that coaching is for healthy people who are ready to accomplish and realize more for their lives. You can now see where on this path of progression you may be, and what the best next steps are for your personal journey.
The next step is a declaration – an opportunity to do better for yourself, to have more for yourself, and to powerfully trust yourself and your ability to manage and/or create the life you deserve. And… only you can make that choice, take those steps, and realize your greatness!
If you think you may be ready for coaching, please contact me today!
Sources:
Bethune, Sophie. “Demand for Mental Health Treatment Continues to Increase, Say Psychologists.” American Psychological Association, American Psychological Association, 19 Oct. 2021, https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2021/10/mental-health-treatment-demand#
Holmes, Lindsay. “Should You See a Therapist or a Life Coach?” HuffPost, HuffPost, 3 Jan. 2016, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/benefits-of-therapy-life-coaching_n_567ac127e4b0b958f658d53a
Institute, Zur. “Therapist Burnout: Facts, Causes and Prevention.” Zur Institute, 12 Feb. 2019, https://www.zurinstitute.com/clinical-updates/burnout-therapists/#:~:text=Burnout%20is%20the%20result%20of,some%20point%20in%20their%20careers.&text=It%20manifests%20primarily%20as%20emotional,%E2%80%9D%20or%20%E2%80%9Cemotional%20overload.%E2%80%9D
Miller, Kelly. “How Do Coaching, Mentoring, and Counseling Differ?” PositivePsychology.com, 13 Dec. 2021, https://positivepsychology.com/. Robbins, Tony. “Life Coach vs. Therapist: Similarities and Differences.” Tonyrobbins.com, https://www.tonyrobbins.com/coaching/life-coach-vs-therapist/.
Srivastava, Yashi. “Coaching, Counseling, and Mentorship: What’s the Difference?” BetterUp, 25 Mar. 2021, https://www.betterup.com/blog/coaching-counseling-and-mentorship-whats-the-difference.
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