Difference between coaching and therapy

LIFE COACH VS. THERAPIST

One of the most common misconceptions about life coaching is that it is therapy in disguise — or, worse yet, therapy from an unlicensed practitioner. In reality, life coaching is truly its own unique service designed to help people  meet the outcomes that will bring them success and fulfillment, in  all areas of life. Here are some of the differences between life coaching and therapy, and a basic guide for when each service is appropriate.

DEFINING TERMS: LIFE COACH VS. THERAPIST

What is therapy? Therapy, is a long-term process in which a client works with a professional to diagnose and resolve and heal problematic beliefs, behaviors, relationship issues, feelings ,emotional wounds and buried trauma and sometimes physical responses. The idea behind therapy is to focus on past traumas and issues to change self-destructive habits, repair and improve relationships and work through painful feelings. In this sense, therapy focuses on the past and on introspection and analysis, with the hope of resolving past issues and creating a happier, more stable future.

What does a life coach do? The difference between a life coach and therapist is that a life coach sets clients up with a process that may be long or short-term, instead of regular sessions. In life coaching, a client works with a coach, in order to clarify goals and identify obstacles and problematic behaviors in order to create action plans to achieve desired results. The process of life coaching takes the client’s current starting point as an acceptable neutral ground and is more action-based from that point onward. A life coach enables the person receiving coaching to take control of their life and take action to steer it toward their goals.

 The fundamentals of life coaching are what distinguishes it from therapy. Life coaches do not diagnose the people they work with, while therapists determine mental illness,patterns  so their patients can be clinically treated. Therapists analyze their client’s past as a tool for understanding present behaviors, whereas life coaches simply identify and describe current problematic behaviors so the client can work to modify them. In other words, therapists focus on “why” certain behavioral patterns occur, and coaches work on “how” to work toward a goal.

When you look at a life coach vs. a therapist’s practice, it’s important to recognize that therapists help clients explore and understand their subconscious and unconscious mind. Their goal in this exploration is a deep understanding of behaviors and patterns. Life coaches focus on an individual’s actions and results. Life coaches measure their client’s success with key performance indicators and specific behavioral outcomes and goals.

Therapy and life coaching do share certain traits and aims. However, whether you choose to work with a life coach or therapist, both work to enable clients to make positive changes in their lives and become more productive. While therapists diagnose and treat from a healthcare perspective, not all therapy clients are ill; many healthy people seek the services of both therapists and life coaches. Therapists may at times work with specific results in mind, such as the cessation of a particular problematic behavior.

Despite occasional areas of overlap, the work and processes of therapists and life coaches are distinct.