Coaching and Therapy are different disciplines but they share plenty of overlaps. This can make it tricky for some of us to know whether we are looking for a coach or a therapist.
Here’s some information to help make that choice a little bit easier.
| What is therapy? | What is coaching? |
| The BACP describes therapy as a safe and confidential space for you to talk about your issues and concerns with a trained professional. Your therapist will help you explore your thoughts, feelings and behaviours so that you can develop a better understanding of yourself and others. There are many different types of therapy. Therapy deals with healing pain, trauma or dysfunction with the aim of resolving difficulties that impair an individual’s emotional health and psychological functioning. Therapy: Main focus is on the past to understand the present Usually long-term (although this depends on the type of therapy, for example CBT is usually offered as a block of 6 – 12 sessions) | The International Coaching Federation (ICF) defines coaching as partnering in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires a person to maximize their personal and professional potential. The process of coaching often unlocks previously untapped sources of imagination, productivity, and leadership. Coaching focuses on enabling individuals to draw upon their own experiences and capabilities to set and reach their own objectives. Coaching: Main focus is on the future to take action in the present Usually short-term |
It’s important to have an initial conversation with your potential coach or therapist to check that what you are looking for and what they offer is a good match for you.
Coaching could be a good option for you if:
- You want to think about your future but are currently experiencing some stuckness in getting there.
- You want to figure out how you can work and live well.
- You want to understand what your strengths are and how to use them more
- You want to understand and work with your unique executive functioning (executive functioning includes things like decision-making, organisation, getting started on tasks, attention, memory, effort and energy, self-regulation – or to put it simply being able to get things done)
- You want to reauthor your life in light of a neurodivergent diagnosis
Therapy could be a good option for you if:
- You are experiencing acute mental health challenges with anxiety and or depression.
- You need help in healing from past trauma with a trauma-trained therapist
- You are experiencing overwhelming grief or emotional dysregulation
- You have a strong sense of helplessness/hopelessness
- You want to look back over your life in light of a neurodivergent diagnosis
Can I have therapy and coaching at the same time?
It depends on whether or not you are in a mentally stable place to be able to think about your future and to make changes that will support you in getting the lifestyle you want. If you are not, then therapy would be the better option for you at this time. If you are then you might benefit from a combination of coaching and therapy.
For example, a coach may work with a client to help them develop a good routine that helps them manage their energy and responsibilities whilst the same client is seeing a therapist to help them heal from trauma.
However, coaching and therapy take energy, effort, and finances; for these reasons, most people will start working with either a coach or a therapist, rather than both.