Coaching vs Therapy
How to know where to start on your healing journey
Treatment
Therapists treat mental illness. Coaches do not. Therapists are trained to diagnose and treat conditions such as clinical depression, anxiety disorder, and PTSD.
If you are just dealing with life stress or feeling stuck a coach might be a great option for you! If you are struggling with deeper, or more ongoing issues and think you might be suffering from a clinical condition I recommend consulting a trained professional.
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Therapy and coaching work very well together. There is no rule saying you have to choose one over the other, often times people benefit greatly from both.
Methodlogy
Coaching is highly specific. There are many types of coaches out there trained to help with specific issues such as executive coaching, leadership coaching, health and wellness coaching, or transformational empowerment coaching, whereas therapy is designed to help you overcome mental illness and recover from life-altering situations through the use of many techniques including but not limited to EMDR, cognitive behavioral therapy, talk therapy, and cognitive processing.
Think of it like this...
Coaching and therapy can be thought of like fitness and health.
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Generally, if you want to get fit you need to be healthy. If your body isn't healthy getting fit will be a huge struggle. Once you have everything balanced in your body and you're healthy then your body is ready to get stronger, faster, leaner, whatever your fitness goals are. If you are dealing with a chronic illness, or your hormones are way out of balance, or you have a thyroid issue, then getting fit will become nearly impossible. Your body will fight you every step of the way.
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Coaching is like mental fitness. Therapy is mental health. Can you work on your fitness and health at the same time? Of course you can! But, some people find it easier to focus on one or the other first. Getting your mental health on a good path will lay the foundation for coaching. Coaching will become much more effective and you'll get a lot more out of it if you have a solid mental health foundation to build upon.
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How are they alike?
Both coaches and therapists have your best interest at heart. We WANT you to succeed and get better!
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We both strive to create lasting change in your life.
Therapists and coaches are supportive and provide a safe space to work on yourself so that you can heal and reach your goals.
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We all have our own areas of expertise. For example, if you have a chronic sinus infection you'd probably go see an ear, nose, and throat doctor. It's what they specialize in!
Every coach and therapist also has their specialty so make sure when you choose one you're picking someone who best fits your needs