The difference between Life Coaching & Therapy
Therapy is amazing. Coaching is amazing. Both can work well together or separately but sometimes coaching alone may not be enough.
Here is a little bit about how the two are different so you can decide if coaching is right for you.
I think one of the biggest differences between the two is therapy is often past focused while coaching is very much present and future focus.
Therapists can diagnose mental health disorders.
Coaches DO NOT diagnose or treat for any mental health disorders.
Therapy is a great fit for someone who is low functioning or not functioning at a baseline level in their lives.
Coaches can work with somebody that has a diagnosis, but again coaches do not make or treat diagnosis. Typically coaching work will not be in regard to something that is related to any mental health disorder. Coaching is not meant to cure any mental health diagnosis.
However, I live with anxiety. I am diagnosed and medicated. I a still functioning in my day to day life just fine with my anxiety! I see a licensed therapist but also have a life coach. My coach can and does help me reduce anxiety in my day to day life by helping me see where I can take more control back. Sometimes the story I am telling myself is what brings on additional anxiety for me, personally. My coach helps me lean into the anxiety and allow it to be there without resistance. In all fairness, a therapist c do the same.
Again, the key here is if you feel like your life is currently consumed by depression, anxiety, PTSD, Trauma, etc. - please seek a therapist. If you need help finding one, I can tap into my resources.
Coaching is not covered under insurance.
Both coaches and therapist work to improve their clients lives.
We are both taught to hold a safe space for our clients.
I am trained and certified through the Life Coach School - I use the tools I learned from there along with other knowledge I have gained over the course of my career as a health coach. I help my clients see how (while we may not be able to control all of our circumstances) they are in charge of the results in their life.
My coaching is not action based. I am not going to sit here and tell you what to do. You can change actions all day long but if you don’t change the thought that is fueling your actions, your new habits or the results you are wanting will not stick.
When you coach with me - that is where our focus lies.
We focus on finding awareness so you can make intentional choices in your life.
Your thoughts create your feelings, those feelings lead you to take certain actions or inactions. We focus on how your current thinking is creating your current life/results. We work together to see how little shifts in thinking can lead you to different results (if that is your goal). That is where the magic happens.
You learn to tap into your own genius with a coach. It is there, it always has been, it just tends to hide under all of the limiting beliefs we have running through our brain.
A life coach doesn’t sit and agree with everything you say - we stay neutral and explore different perspectives of the stories that may be keeping you stuck.
Life coaches and therapists give you space to get it all out with zero judgement or an agenda to “fix you.” (You are not broken, you do not need fixing.)
I am not the coach who will hold your hand and pat your head, I will give real perspective that others may not be willing to give. I see your potential and love you too damn much to let you stay where you are. If you come to with help for something that we can work on together, then damn it, I am going to keep it real AF to help you see why you don’t have that “something” - all from a place of love, of course.
Look, you can get amazing results from both coaching and therapy. Like I said, I do both! I practice what I preach.
If you are ready to make some sort of pivot in life, life coaching is a great option.
Some (but not all) options are:
Improve your relationship with yourself, your spouse, others
A specific skill or goal you want to hit
Mindset shift in a certain area (self love, overall negativity, etc)
Work on how you show up as a parent, spouse, employee, etc.
Wanting to boost your confidence & ditch the shit talking you do to yourself when you aren’t “perfect”
Something not on the list so you aren’t too sure if we can coach on it? The answer is probably yes, but feel free to email me and ask!