Coaching vs Therapy
What is the difference between coaching and therapy?
This is a common question as individuals want to get clear about the kind of professional and personal support they need at a critical life juncture.
There are many commonalities between the two practices. For example, depending on the type of therapist or coach, both therapy and coaching can focus on addressing behavior changes and evoking awareness shifts that power transformation. Both therapy and coaching can feel exploratory and open-ended, driven by powerful questions and a client’s self-guided discovery of their feelings and experiences.
However, there are several key differentiators that can help you distinguish when you might hire one versus the other.
Coaching Is Primarily Concerned with the Present and Future, Not the Past
Unlike forms of psychotherapy, coaching primarily believes in looking at the here and now and, according to Co-Active coaching, the client is already naturally creative, resourceful, and whole. Coaching leverages the present state and feelings to power new awareness that brings about change and generally does not dwell in the past to inform future steps.
Set Goals for the Coaching Engagement
Coaches help their clients set goals for the coaching engagement, being clear with clients about what success looks like for the length of the coaching relationship. Co-Active coaches build a strong system for accountability with their clients, designing specific follow-ups and homework for the clients between sessions.
Coaching Is Timebound
Coaching is the rocket fuel that propels change and shifts in the client’s life and is not meant to continue indefinitely. When the goals are achieved from a coaching engagement, the coach brings the work to a close purposefully and intentionally with the client.
The Coach Holds Up a Mirror to the Client
The coach’s role is an active one: in addition to asking questions, acknowledging what is going on for the client, and listening deeply, the coach is also boldly there to interrupt, mirror, reflect, and call the client forth to help them design actions that break the barriers to their own transformation.
Therapists are Trained to Help with Serious Mental Health Issues
If you are facing issues around addiction, trauma, chronic depression or anxiety, or other mental health challenges, or have suicidal thoughts, therapy is for you. Coaches are not trained to respond professionally to this set of issues, and while some coaches have personal experience or specializations, on the whole coaches are instructed to refer these clients to a trained psychologist.
Coaches Are Credentialed, Therapists Are Licensed
Therapists have rigorous standards for training, supervision, and practice, as governed by state or other jurisdictional licensing boards; coaches can be credentialed by the International Coaching Federation (ICF), which oversees standards for ethics, quality, exams, and ongoing professional training and ensures coaches have been trained by an accredited coaching school that mandates supervision and mentoring. Through courses at the Co-Active Training Institute, coaches can receive a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC) credential and pursue certification to become certified by the ICF — for example, as an Associate, Professional, or Master Certified Coach (ACC, PCC or MCC).
Do You Want a Coach or a Therapist?
If you’re thinking of embarking on a period of personal growth and transformation, I hope these guidelines will help you as you decide what support will be most effective for you. Both therapy and coaching can be incredibly valuable. Your experience will depend on your chemistry or fit with a certain therapist or coach, as well as your level of investment and openness to the process. Whichever you choose, I wish you a meaningful transformation and applaud you for taking this courageous step.