Life Coaching – Is It The Same As Therapy?
Life Coaching – Is It The Same As Therapy?
Choosing whether to seek out a life coach or a therapist can be confusing since both are “personal consultants” who offer support and guidance. However, life coaches and therapists are not the same, and each provides value to their patients (or clients) in different ways. Understanding what the differences are can help you to know which one will provide the most value to you.
Life Coaching vs Therapy
To understand the differences between the two, it may be most productive to look at the goals of each. Life coaching and therapy each have different goals which help to differentiate them.
The goal of Life coaching is to help you succeed. It’s designed to help you grow personally and professionally. Life coaching is something that you should turn to if what you need is to “do better” in your personal or professional life. Your life coach should strive to create an encouraging space where they use various techniques to motivate you and to hold you accountable in your efforts to achieve your goals. And it is your goals that define the process. They will help you to make meaningful progress on anything from writing a book to losing weight—and help you to identify which goals you want to strive towards in the first place.
Life coaching helps you to better handle the various external challenges life presents and to overcome the various fears and motivational issues that may be holding you back from becoming the best version of yourself.
The goal of therapy, on the other hand, is to help you heal. It’s designed to help you grow and become more self-aware. Therapy is useful when you want to “feel better.” A therapist endeavors to create a safe space for patients where you can feel free and unencumbered by work, family, friends, and all the pressures of the world and vent about anything and everything that might be causing you to feel stressed out, depressed, or anxious.
Therapy, in other words, helps you do a deep dive into yourself and your psyche to help you to get back in touch with who you are and who you want to be.
So life coaching and therapy are completely different things
That isn’t entirely correct. There is some overlap. For example, a therapist may help a patient with setting personal or professional goals and holding the patient accountable at subsequent sessions. This is definitely something that life coaches do for their clients.
A life coach who believes that a client is being held back due to what they suspect is a psychological issue may recommend their client seek therapy or a psychiatrist and hold them accountable for continuing therapy in order to hep their client to achieve their professional goals.
In short, some people may need a mix of therapy and life coaching in order to reach their goals and life their best life. While a therapist or psychiatrist is capable of providing life coaching, a life coach is typically not licensed to provide therapy or psychiatric services to their clients.
How do I know if therapy or life coaching will be right for me
The first thing you should ask is what you want to accomplish. If you want to improve skills in one area, or are looking for help setting goals and holding yourself accountable, a life coach would be a good option. But if you want to change deep-seated beliefs or heal past trauma, a therapist might be a better option for you.
Another way you can look at things is whether you are looking for something that will look toward the past, or look toward the future. Life coaching is mostly focused on the now and the future, and helping to define and tavel a path from today to tomorrow. Therapy is more focused on how yesterday is impacting today, and using today to explore and come to terms with the past in oder to be able to reach a better tomorrow.
Life coaching: similar but not the same as therapy
Life coaching are two separate disciplines which can often overlap as they share similar aspirations. The correct one for you will depend on what you are looking to change or achieve. No matter which you choose, you are sure to find great benefits from someone who will help you to live your best life.
If you are interested in life coaching or receiving a psychiatric evaluation, contact Stedfast psychiatry today.
