As a mental health counselor for over a decade, I realize that many people do not understand the difference between therapy and life coaching. I get it, I didn’t understand the difference at first either! You could be wondering which would work better for you, read on my friends.

Therapy, often called psychotherapy or counseling, focuses on mental health concerns and emotional healing. With mental health treatment, a medical diagnosis is established and a treatment plan is created to assist with reducing or eliminating the mental health concern. Therapy often focuses on processing past events to assist with restoring the client to a healthy level of functioning. The therapist is viewed as the expert, who is clinically trained to treat their disorder.

Life coaching, often referred to simply as coaching, is actually quite different. Coaching is present and future focused, only exploring the past if it will help with understanding their current life. In coaching, the client focuses on setting and achieving goals in various areas of life. The coach is viewed as a partner, helping them identify where they are, where they want to be, and how to get there. 

Please note, at Organize Your Life Coaching, LLC I only engage in coaching with my clients and do not diagnose or treat mental health concerns.