Life coaching is a growing field that has been gaining a lot of traction among help-seekers, and it’s branching out into a variety of sub-fields like relationship coaching, family coaching, dating coaching and more. At the same time, some people oppose coaching as some kind of watered-down version of therapy or professional counseling (we’ll use those two interchangeably for our purposes).
What’s the reality here?
How is therapy different from life coaching? And if you’re looking for help with an issue in your life, should you see a therapist or a life coach? Let’s look at a number of relevant points to understand counseling vs. life coaching, and what might be the benefits of therapy vs. life coaching.
Qualifications of Therapists vs. Coaches
People often focus on life coach qualifications vs. therapist qualifications – i.e. the education or degrees they’ve had. And here is probably the starkest difference between a therapist and a coach: a therapist is someone who has at least a master’s degree in a relevant field (professional counseling, mental health counseling, social work, psychology, etc.); becoming a life coach requires no specific degree or certification.
There are no requirements to call oneself a coach; you can just hang up a shingle at start seeing clients. But to call yourself a psychotherapist, or counselor, or something similar, you need to have a state license, which you can only get if you have that master’s degree.
All that said, I would not recommend looking at someone’s education or licensure to determine if they can help you. The unfortunate truth is that there are a lot of highly trained, really bad therapists out there. (When you’re a therapist you tend to hear clients’ nightmare stories of previous therapy experiences.)
The other upshot of this is that therapists are answerable to a state board, ethics rules, regulations, and so on; coaches are not. So if you had a therapist who you believed was acting unethically (e.g. refusing to help you based on your race, religion, etc., or making sexual advances toward you), you would have somewhere to call to hold them accountable; not so for coaches.
Likewise, there are people with little formal education who are good, wise, and helpful people. Many clients gain a lot from their coaching experiences, even those that don’t have a degree in some kind of helping discipline.
Let’s take a look at some other differences between therapists and life coaches to better make a decision.
Approach to Helping in Therapy and Life Coaching
If you look at mental health therapy compared to life coaching, probably the distinction that is actually most relevant is the approach they use to help their clients. Of course, it’s important to note that there are many different therapeutic modalities, and many approaches to coaching. Additionally, every individual brings their own unique self to their work as a counselor or coach. So these are very broad generalizations.
Therapy is usually a process of exploring the self and fixing up things inside that are getting in our own way. For example, if your parents were harsh and critical, you may have a deep-seated drive to please people and earn their approval. (This is not your fault!) So therapy would help you explore your history, understand what’s going on inside, and try to heal the part of you that is hurting so you can change the way you do things.
Coaching, on the other hand, generally does not get into how you became the way you are and doesn’t aim to achieve a deep exploration. Rather, coaching tends to be future-focused: what are your goals? How do you want things to be? And what kind of mindsets, habits, or behaviors can you adopt to achieve that?
Which approach to use really depends on what resonates with you more. Do you like thinking about who you are and why? Or do you prefer thinking about where you’re going to go? Are you more introspective or action-oriented?
Again, these are not highly defined boundaries. Some therapists are very much into aiming for results and skipping the psychoanalysis (e.g., Solution-Focused Brief Therapy). And some coaches find it important to touch on your history to determine what kind of strategies to implement.
The best advice here is to speak to a potential therapist or coach and ask them what kind of approach they usually use to see if it feels right for you.
Issues that Coaches and Counselors Typically Deal With
When it comes to the issues that coaches and counselors treat, there can be a good deal of overlap here too. Therapists can help you set and reach your goals if you’re feeling aimless, unmotivated, or underachieving. And sometimes life coaches help with mental health too – if you’re down because of low-self-esteem, a coach can help you shift your mindset and change course.
The main difference is when it comes to issues that are highly specialized, especially ones that are risky and really do need advanced training. Eating disorders are a good example: sure, if you have bad eating habits and want to fix them, a life coach can be super helpful. On the other hand, if you are struggling with anorexia – which can really be a fatal disorder – working with someone who has the necessary training and experience is important.
Likewise when it comes to chronic mental illnesses like schizophrenia or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) – these require more than changes in behavior, and a licensed therapist is the way to go for help on these issues.
Therapy vs. Coaching: Pros and Cons
In sum, psychotherapy and life coaching differences tend to be overstated. For many common problems, both kinds of professionals can be very helpful. There are counselors and coaches who are excellent, and there are counselors and coaches who are terrible.
The pros and cons of choosing a provider will depend much more on the provider than on their specific title. Best thing: call them up and talk to them. That’s the best way to tell if you like this person and think they can help!
