Therapy vs. Life Coaching

Therapy and life coaching are foundationally different professions and services. "Therapy is about helping you to identify what particular life experiences you've had that limit the way that you show up and how you see yourself in this world," Fisher explains. "Therapy goes through actually exploring what particular life experiences you've had in the past and clearing a lot of the baggage and the hurt and pain."

​

"The coaching piece comes once you've done that work and we're ready to say, 'Okay, let's be intentional about how you do want to live your life.' What strengths would you like to find in yourself? What inspires you and what are you passionate about?" The two professions require different levels of training. Therapists are licensed mental health professionals who can diagnose and treat mental health conditions. This requires a master's degree for most counselors and a doctorate for psychologists. There are technically no educational requirements to become a life coach. While there are life coach certifications available, they are not mandated. Virtually anyone can market their services as a life coach. Although the roles are distinct from one another, both provide a forum for clients to discuss their fears, relationships, problems, and aspirations.

​

Life coaches might even incorporate psychotherapy to use with clients. For example, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) — one of the most well-known forms of therapy — focuses on the circular relationship among thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Many life coaches use this framework to help clients reshape unhelpful thinking patterns. However, therapists employ many other treatment methods besides CBT. One example is psychoanalytic therapy, which explores deeply buried thoughts, traumas, and often negative childhood experiences. This is outside of the realm of life coaching, which focuses mainly on clients' present behaviors and how they relate to future goals.

​

When to See a Therapist vs. a Life Coach

Both therapy and coaching can help individuals find fulfillment and happiness. But knowing which one will be beneficial to you, as a client, can be tricky. And making the incorrect choice can delay progress.

​

Life coaching is not a fast-track pass to happiness and fulfillment. As Fisher says, if there is trauma to work through or healing to be done, that must be addressed before life coaching. However, there's a point in which therapy's positive effects begin to plateau.

​

"Just the therapy alone, the therapeutic component, isn't enough for us to actually be equipped with the resources and the clarity that we need to say, 'This is the kind of person I want to show up as in this world.' And that's where the coaching piece comes in," Fisher says. If you are still unsure which option is the right fit, schedule a consultation with a therapist or life coach. 

​

Criticisms of Life Coaching

Life coaching has faced criticism since the beginning of the profession, largely because there is no governing board or licensing body that regulates the field. "You could have absolutely no experience or training in coaching and still call yourself a life coach," Fisher says. This allows all kinds of people to market their services as "coaches." Most are well-intentioned, but some are motivated purely by money.

​

Another factor contributing to the skepticism toward coaching is its association with the self-help movement. This genre of books, workshops, and videos boomed in the 1990s and surged through the 2000s. Best-selling books like "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" and "The Secret" have helped millions of people. However, the self-help genre has also provided an opportunity for fraudsters like Werner Erhard, Osho, and Keith Raniere to exploit people's desire for fulfillment. These are the most notorious examples, but there are many individuals marketing their services who aren't necessarily devious — just ill-equipped to provide advice professionally.

​

The field's lack of regulation is a double-edged sword. While it can certainly attract insincere opportunists, it also allows those who are truly passionate about helping people to make a living without the huge investment of time and money needed to earn a psychology license. "Regulations exist to protect the public from being deceived about any particular promise that they're being told will be delivered.

Resource Used:https://www.psychology.org/resources/what-is-life-coaching/