What They Share in Common

Coaching and therapy share certain common features. Both may bring about behavioral change and help people understand how their cognitive and emotional reactions can interfere with personal effectiveness, performance, and well-being. Both are conducted by practitioners who want to establish strong relationships of trust with their clients. Some of the core skills are the same such as deep listening and questions which raise awareness.

While a coach is often described as more “directive” and “solution-focused,” many psychotherapists are equal in these criteria. Sometimes the underlying philosophies behind coaching and therapy are the same as well. Like coaching, a variety of therapy practices embrace a client centered, collaborative partnership that encourages clients to acknowledge their creativity and find their own unique solutions.

Coaching: The Blended Role
Coaching can be considered a combination of a little bit of therapy, a bit of mentoring, a bit of training/education and a bit of consultant. These all blend together in the role of ‘coach.’ Many clinical psychologists and management trainers have gone into consulting and coaching taking with them their understandings, skill-sets and professional norms of their disciplines, and therefore are going to practice a bit differently from one another. A coach is also often hired by a corporation to work with their employees, and therefore often serve ‘two masters,’ one the client and the other the corporation who is paying for these services.

Psychotherapy
Those without clinical credentials often frame coaching as a goal-oriented type of work that focuses on the present, and geared to highly functioning successful people who want to do even better. Therapy, in contrast, is characterized as past-focused, designed to address painful, unresolved issues and is geared to troubled people or those with pathology. While these descriptions are true for some practitioners, they are also inaccurate, misleading and over-simplistic. People enter therapy for many reasons including self exploration, self-knowledge, professional development and better self management. People with deep-seated emotional problems often look to coaches for direction and advice.

The main difference between coaching and psychotherapy is in the credentialing required to conduct each, and the nature of the relationship between provider and client.

Education and Licensing

I am licensed at an independent level as a psychologist, to provide psychotherapy, but no license or certification is currently required of me (or anyone) to conduct coaching, and many different professions practice it. Some coaches study how to coach a day or a year before they call themselves a ‘coach.’ My educational background includes a master’s degree and 3 years of a doctoral program, one year of a full-time internship and one year of a post-doctoral training, both under the supervision of a licensed psychologist before receiving my license. To keep that license, I’m required to complete 20 hours of continuing education coursework every two years. My training as a coach came during those continuing educational hours.

The Nature of the Relationship
As a therapist, I may be quite comfortable exploring the family-of-origin relationships and the patterns that repeat causing you difficulty in your life, but I’m less likely to do so as a coach.
A psychotherapist (also called a ‘clinician’) is usually a more distant role than that of a coach. For example, a psychotherapist would most likely decline an invitation to attend your wedding, but a coach would quite likely accept. A psychotherapist would be much less likely to share much in the way of personal information about her life, unless it was directly pertinent to the topic at hand, and strategically designed to be helpful to you. In contrast, a coach may frequently share personal but relevant information with you, if it could be helpful to you in any way.

Compare and Contrast: Which Fits You Better?
Here are some other distinctions that will help you choose whether you prefer to work with me as a therapist or as a coach:

• As a therapist I tend to be quieter, more composed, thoughtful and enigmatic.
• As a coach, I am more high energy, more action-oriented and more results focused.
• As a coach, I challenge, pep-talk, push.
• As a therapist I support, encourage and coax.
• As a therapist, I help by metaphorically ‘sitting down.’
• As a coach, I help by metaphorically ‘standing up.’
• Think of that Paul Simon song lyrics that go: “You know, breakdowns come and breakdowns go. What are you going to do about it, that’s what I’d like to know?” A coach might take that kind of ‘hardball’ approach, but a therapist is more likely to explore what that breakdown was like for you, and what you learned about yourself and how you grew from it.
• Therapy sessions can feel “heavier” and more “serious,” because we may look directly at distress to try and figure out how to facilitate clearer thought processes. You may come to me feeling deeply ‘stuck’ and want to get ‘unstuck.’
• Coaching feels ‘lighter,’ because you bring to it a greater sense of well-being, energy or commitment to new actions. You may only lack a clear direction.
• Coaching is oriented toward setting goals, creating results, and managing personal change, accountability and follow-through (for example evaluating the features of your current home area, your current preparedness-level, and creating and implementing a plan)
• Psychotherapy tends to focus on broader life issues (what keeps you in a location you think of as less ‘ideal,’ what blocks you from taking the steps you believe you need to take, etc.)
• Psychotherapy clients want to resolve the question “Why? Who?”
• Coaching clients want to answer the question “How? What? When?”
• Psychotherapy clients look inward to help them plan outward moves.
• Coaching clients look outward and expect change to transform their inner states.
• Psychotherapist: Think-’patient, nurturing, evocative, supportive, cathartic, “holding” you.’
• Coach: Think-’catalytic, challenging, direct, straight talking, holding you accountable.’
• Psychotherapy helps you get going.
• Coaching helps you go faster.
• Psychotherapist: process is as important as the results.
• Coaching: results are the only important measure.
• I talk more in coaching.
• I listen more in therapy.

It is important to keep in mind that psychotherapy often turns into coaching seamlessly and effortlessly. The reverse is seldom true.

I charge the same for psychotherapy than coaching.

If you are still confused, talk with me about what brings you to seek help, and I may be able to assist you in deciding which might be best for you at this point.

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