Coaching vs Therapy
While there is some overlap, for the most part coaching and licensed therapy are two different beasts. Both modalities facilitate emotional healing and growth, yet with distinct differences in how they're applied and integrated. The simplest explanation is as follows.
As a coach, I do:
- respect clients' rights to privacy, and practice strict ethics & confidentiality protocols
- focus mainly on present issues and future goals
- promote shorter term series of sessions (3 to 12 usually, versus ongoing therapy of an indefinite term)
- interact with clients in experiential ways that are outside the parameters of licensed therapy
I do not:
- diagnose behavioral health or treat any form of mental illness
- focus unduly on a client's past (beyond what is helpful to inform our present moment work)
- enjoy the same legal protections regarding client-confidentiality as licensed therapists do
The collaborative aspects of coaching are something I enjoy and believe in. Also, the freedom to individualize sessions based on decades of personal and professional experience, finely-honed instincts, and moment to moment inspiration.
My clients tend to be highly motivated and proactive, thus, conventional therapy's slower pace and (justifiable) restrictions can feel limiting to them. The restrictive structure of a classic therapeutic environment either doesn't appeal to coaching clients or (in many cases*) is something they use in conjunction with short term coaching.
Talk therapy can be incredibly helpful, even lifesaving. It's exactly what many people need, for many years myself included. I had a phenomenal therapist for 15 years, whom I saw during good times and bad, but I don't pretend to have her same skills (or PhD), nor desire to work in that vein. The world needs both coaches and therapists. Some clients need one, the other, or both.
*One third to one half of my coaching clients also see a therapist or have seen one in the past. All my Surrogate Partner clients see a therapist with whom I’m also in contact on a biweekly basis, since that very triadic relationship is a requirement and integral part of Surrogate Partner Therapy.
