Coaching Versus Psychotherapy: The Ultimate Guide
It’s time. You need a change in your life. You no longer want to wake up in the morning and dread the day, week, month and/or year ahead of you. You would like to feel more confident in your decision-making and take action quickly and effectively instead of feeling frozen and stuck.
Today, we will look at what you should do next. Do you need to hire a coach or a therapist (or both)? I will break down some key differences between coaching and therapy to help you decide*. So, let’s get to it.
“Do I need a coach or a therapist?”
It’s a great question because both are really great ways to move forward. Firstly, let’s define what each profession does** and how it can help you and then we can move onto the differences…
What is Therapy?
The British Association For Counselling and Psychotherapy describes therapy as :
“… a safe and confidential space for you to talk to a trained professional about your issues and concerns. Your therapist will help you explore your thoughts, feelings and behaviours so you can develop a better understanding of yourself and of others.”
In my experience, I have found that therapy creates a space for my life experiences to be heard without judgement, opinion or retaliation. It’s a safe space to express who I am and explore all the versions of me that makeup who I am sitting in the chair having that conversation.
What is Coaching?
The Life Coach Directory describes coaching as:
“…a process where a coach supports a coachee to make a change, learn something new or achieve goals. This process happens through conversation and can take place face-to-face, over the phone, or online. The ultimate aim is to help the coachee make progress in a certain area of their life, at work or to overcome a problem they’re struggling with.
In my experience, I have found coaching to be the cheerleading, ass-kicking de-tangler of my life problems, fears and barriers holding me back. It gives me a framework of action so I know what I need to do and I’m never stuck wondering what step I should take next. It allows me to grow both personally and professionally.
Coaching versus therapy - now we understand each profession let’s talk about what makes them different…
The Five Differences between coaching and therapy
Here are five of the main differences to help you make your choice:
Taking aCtion Versus reflection
Coaching works with your life and business struggles first hand by breaking down the challenge you are facing into manageable tangible step-by-step actions that will set you up for success. It’s a collaborative process with the coach asking meaningful and curious questions to uncover what is behind the origins of your problems whilst supporting you through the changes you need to make to achieve your goals and objectives.
Therapy is a beautiful and sacred space to reflect on your life and what is troubling you. It’s a time for reflection and insight rather than a plan of action. It allows you time to ponder, share and question your lived experience in the present. There is no emphasis on becoming a better version of yourself (although that can/does happen over time) rather an acceptance for who you are now and what you bring to the table.
2. future driven versus past focussed
Coaching is focused on equipping you with the personal and professional development tools you need to take action in the present moment to enhance and bring future success. It is future-driven and heavily geared towards action-taking, breaking down fear barriers and unlocking your full potential.
Therapy looks to your past for signposts to uncover the root causes of what is holding you back today. It’s past-focussed with an exploration of your internal world to join the dots and understand more about who you are, and why you behave the way you do.
3. Coaching isn’t for everyone
Coaching takes a lot of willpower, tenacity and dedication to move through your fear barriers, take forward steps and allow greatness/results into your life. It takes a lot of ownership and responsibility on your part to thrive and to make the necessary changes. Some people are not ready for that and/or are not mentally stable to cope with the results and/or the quick changes that come with coaching.
Therapy is applicable to everyone regardless of what stage you are at in your life because it explores your internal world, so you can access this at any point. Plus, a therapist is able to help with issues such as trauma, anxiety and depression (a coach cannot) which can possibly be exacerbated by coaching if you are not ready.
*** You can choose to have coaching and therapy at the same time and they do work really well together. However, it is important to note that your results can be a lot slower as you navigate any issues being raised within your therapy. It can have a ‘two steps forward, five steps back’ feeling. Although, as long as you are mindful of this and willing to go to both sessions regularly you should start picking up momentum sooner or later. Others may find starting therapy first and then coaching second, a more rewarding experience.
4. Coaching results can be instant
My Coaching clients can expect results from the very first session and with continued action, support and inspiration they can make massive changes within the first three months, and life-changing decisions thereafter.
Therapy takes time to dig deep into your internal world and share your experiences with your therapist. Although even just sharing your problems can be a relief the real change can take a lot longer to experience.
5. The feel-good factor
Coaching is inspirational, motivating and invigorating to the client. You will leave feeling good about yourself, able to tackle your next growth points and feel supported by your coach to achieve your goals
Therapy can leave you feeling good, bad or indifferent. You have a session that makes you feel heard, validated and proud of yourself and another that leaves you feeling distressed and vulnerable - and all the different feelings in-between. There is no right or wrong way to feel during therapy. And every session is different.
So, should I hire a coach or a therapist?
In my opinion, everyone would benefit from the right kind of therapy with the right therapist at any time of their lives. It’s best to start out with a number of consultations with prospective therapists/counsellors to find a professional that you feel comfortable opening up to.
Coaching is a brilliant avenue when you are ready to step forward and take ownership of your life and unfortunately some people may have issues that would be better suited to therapy and cannot be coached.
I would highly suggest having an introductory session with your prospective coach as they will be able to assess whether you are viable for coaching and/or would be best suited to therapy.
A very quick gauge and reduced way of knowing is to ask yourself,
“On a scale of 1 - 10 (1- not happy at all, 5 - ok, 10 - super happy) how happy am I right now?”
Answer truthfully….how happy are you in your life right now?
If you score between 1-4 you would benefit the most from a therapist, 4-6 you could benefit from both, 7 and above you would be ideal for coaching.
If you have decided to look for a coach, feel free to have a look at my life coaching services and book yourself a discovery call today.
If you liked this article how about finding out more about life coaching with my blog post on the dos and don’ts of life coaching?
Thanks so much for being here,
Michelle
DISCLAIMER
*Please note that I am an internationally accredited life coach and not a qualified therapist or counsellor. Therefore any information above is formed from my own experience of psychotherapy rather than from a professional standpoint.
**Also, I use mainstream versions of both coaching and psychotherapy within this blog post. Other modalities of each profession are available that may conflict with this information.
