How is Coaching Different from Therapy or Counseling?

While coaching, therapy, and counselling all aim to support personal growth and well-being, they differ in focus, methods, and goals. Here’s a breakdown to help clarify:

Focus

Therapy/Counseling: These focus on emotional healing, mental health, and understanding how past experiences influence your present. They address issues like trauma, anxiety, depression, or relationship challenges.

Coaching: Coaching is action-oriented and future-focused. It’s about setting goals, building skills, and creating strategies to move forward in specific areas of your life, like productivity, organization, or relationships.

Approach

Therapy/Counseling: These professions often explore the “why” behind behaviours, emotions, and patterns, providing tools to heal and cope.

Coaching: Coaching focuses on the “how”—how to achieve your goals, navigate challenges, and create systems that work for you in everyday life.

Professional Role

Therapist/Counselor: Acts as a trained mental health professional, often diagnosing and treating mental health conditions.

Coach: Acts as a partner, guide, and motivator, empowering you to create and implement actionable strategies without diagnosing or treating mental health issues.

Techniques

Therapy/Counseling: This may include techniques like talk therapy, cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), or trauma-informed practices aimed at emotional healing.

Coaching: Involves tools like goal setting, accountability, and strengths-based problem-solving to help you achieve specific outcomes.

Timing

Therapy/Counseling: Often focuses on understanding and processing the past to improve the present.

Coaching: Focuses on the present and future, helping you take concrete steps to reach your goals.