In the world of mental health and wellness, there seems to be some kind of unwritten rivalry or competition between life coaching and therapy, due to misinformation and misconceptions. Unfortunately, that leaves many people confused and stuck wondering which path is right for them.
While there are some overlapping traits between the two methods, life coaching and traditional therapy are actually very different. What works for you will largely depend on your goals and what you want to experience.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the differences between life coaching and therapy, so you can have a clearer picture of the best path for your wellness journey.
Therapy Is Designed for Healing
While life coaching can help you work through some mental health issues by working on yourself and achieving goals, it’s not the main goal of coaching. Life coaching is very solution focused and future oriented – meaning, you identify goals you want to achieve, and your coach will advise and create a plan of action towards those goals. They will hold your hands through the process until you meet your goal.
Think of like coaching as similar to a person trainer or fitness instructor. You go to the gym to achieve a specific goal – maybe to lose weight; gain muscle; be more active or flexible. Your blocks and triggers may surface, you may lose motivation, and while your trainer is used to seeing those block and triggers arise in their clients, they are not always best equipped to help you heal. You trainer is there to mainly ensure you meet your fitness goals. If they deviated into being your therapist, there is potential to do more harm.
Therapy, on the other hand, is designed to help you heal.
Depending on the modality of the therapy, therapy considers your past, present, and future and will assist you in organising and making sense of your experiences and working toward better or healthier solutions and outcomes. For example, if we go back to the fitness example, a therapist might work collaborative with you to understand and build awareness around messages received around weight, fitness, body image, eating habits, etc. They will help you understand how these messages have influenced your thinking and beliefs and unpack your emotions. Together, you and your therapist will work on healthier thinking, reframing beliefs, and developing better coping strategies.
Whether you’re struggling with anxiety, depression, or the effects of trauma, a therapist will work with you to uncover the root cause of those issues, process your feelings, and find meaning. They’ll also develop a strategy with you that will make symptom management easier, so you can eventually take full control over those issues and start the next chapter of your life without letting a mental health condition define you, hold you back or keep you stuck.
When you’re ready to tackle the next chapter, life coaching can help. With a clear head and nothing holding you back, life coaching can help you reach your goals and teach you what you need to “do better” as you grow.
Both professions can be beneficial and can work in conjunction to get you what you need and require from each.
Understanding Versus Moving Forward
Therapy can help you better understand why you’re feeling a certain way, and heal emotional wounds so you can move forward. For example, if you struggle with anxious thoughts, a therapist will work with you to uncover the underlying causes and any triggers that might make you feel that way and provide strategies for coping with your anxious symptoms.
Therapy can help you where you are now, heal from the past, and forge new and healthier strategies for the future. You’ll be mindful of your life at this present stage and find understanding and awareness about how the past may have influenced your present, so you can take care of your mental health now and going forward.
Maybe you’re in a rut at work, with your personal life, or even your relationships. A therapist can help you get “unstuck” so you can focus on moving forward with a healthier perspective.
Life coaching, on the other hand, is all about problem solving and how you can move forward with specific strategies. Life coaches focus less on healing and making sense of the past. You’ll work with a life coach when you want to achieve specific goals and have a definitive plan of action. For example, you want to complete tasks effectively or be more productive at work. Your life coach will work with you on strategies for better time and task management and provide solutions on how you can be more productive daily. You will have actionable steps that you can implement daily, weekly, monthly and your coach will work with you hand in hand to achieve those specific goals.
The Framework Changes
Therapy offers a lot of freedom in its framework. While a therapist is there to guide you, ask questions, and provoke certain thoughts, it’s often very free-flowing for a reason. The more comfortable you are in a therapy setting, the more likely you’ll be to open up and be vulnerable about the things you’re struggling with.
Therapy can also last for weeks, months, or even years. Some people have standing appointments with their therapists once a week just to maintain their mental well-being.
Life coaching is typically more structured and is often considered a short-term solution. Your life coach will typically meet with you weekly for a specific time period and create goals for you. They’ll work with you on how you can achieve those goals and celebrate your wins. As they do that, they’ll offer advice on specific stepsyou can taketo achieve your dreams and offer support and encouragement when you’ve reached them.
<h2?Education and Regulation Differences
Therapists have specific educational requirements to be able to perform counselling, psychotherapy, or psychological services. Therapists have a minimum of a master’s level education and typically have additional training in various therapeutic models. Often, they are licenced with a regulatory body or college that oversees ethical and practice guidelines for the profession, and which exists to protect the public from harm.
Therapists can become life coaches and life coaches may become therapists. However, the profession and titles are not interchangeable. Therapists have to meet specific qualifications and practice within the guidelines that is set by their regulatory body.
On the other hand, anyone can become a life coach – with or without a degree. There are many training programs that life coaches can complete to become competent in their profession. Many life coaches have training in their field of work. Most life coaches choose the profession because of their past personal experiences. However, life coaching is not a protected field and because anyone can become or call themselves a life coach, there is some risk involved because there is no ethical body that they are required to report to.
Which Practice Is Right for You?
There’s really no right or wrong when it comes to life coaching or therapy since both professions are vastly different. They aren’t practices that need to butt heads. However, choosing the right one to meet your needs depends on what you’re looking to achieve. Due your due diligence and gather information about each profession in order to make an informed choice about what is best for you.
If you’re concerned about your mental well-being and you want to heal from the effects of anxiety, depression, trauma, or other mental health issues, therapy is your best solution.Therapists are specifically trained and are qualified to treat your mental health concerns. Reach out to our office today to find your best fit therapist for whatever challenges you are facing.
