The Difference Between a Coach and a Therapist

Coaches and therapists both have the goal of improving the quality of your life, but work in different ways.  I’ve been both, so I’ll give a general overview of their styles, and let you know why I’ve chosen to pursue coaching.

Therapists hope that with more insight into why you’ve become the way you are, and why you do the things you do, change will happen because you decide to take different actions than you normally would.  Good therapists can be young or old, as a lot of their practice is based on their empathy, and by studying a body of knowledge. 

It doesn’t matter if a therapist has faced the same challenges their clients have, or is in a relationship or not, or is on a similar path as their clients, because they are a conduit into their clients own understanding of themselves, their relationships, and their feelings.  As such, therapists’ lives are often unknown to their clients.

Coaches work in much the opposite way, in that they supply you with the actions to take to start changing your life.  The hope is that once you’ve started living a different way, an understanding will take place within you that will transform the way you experience life. 

Coaching comes more from a body of knowledge gained from experience.  The requirements to become a life coach are next to nothing, so the more life experiences a coach has, plays better into their ability to coach.  This doesn’t mean a life coach has to have made all the right decisions in his or her own life or even have everything worked out in their own life, but they absolutely need to be pushing themselves along a path of personal growth.  And a coach will share their experiences and journey with the client as they become a team in the clients work towards improvement.

Therapy and coaching both involve themselves deeply in your life, but in different ways.  Therapists will explore your thoughts, your past, and your feelings to help improve your awareness.  Coaches will focus on your behaviors.  Just as an athletic coach will instruct on what is not working, and tell you what actions to take to improve, a life coach does the same. This all plays into the trust you must have for your therapist or coach.  While trust for a therapist is important, as they aid in your self discovery and sometimes give advice, trust for a coach is vital for the relationship.  There is an intimacy in coaching because they’ve become your partner, with the intention of intervening in your life and being there with you through the good and bad. Coaching should have more dimension than giving advice.  As my coach says, there needs to be magic, listening beneath the words, and a chance for transformation with every interaction with your coach.

When to see a therapist:  If you are stuck in depression, anxiety, or really any diagnosis that has you unable to take action in your life, a therapist might be a better fit to help you get to the root of issues.  This also goes for deep rooted pain, for example, from abuse, that has left you stuck in life.  A good therapist will provide the safety and comfort a client needs to face the pain and discomfort they’re facing.  When you go to a therapist, you are coming to heal.

When to see a coach:  When you are not generating the results you want in life.  When you feel stuck because what you’ve been doing is not working.  Career, relationships, friendships are stagnant or disappointing, and you are looking for movement and development.  When you go to a coach, you are coming for possibility.