Therapy vs. Coaching

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the difference between coaching and mentoring. My clients, some of whom I’ve mentored in the past, asked me this question, and I expected future clients to continue to ask it. 

But in recent weeks, I’ve had to confront the difference between coaching and therapy more often. As a coach focusing on career issues, this was a surprise to me. I had thought that life coaches would face this question more often. I held this belief despite knowing there is little difference between career and life coaching from a process perspective, and that inner blocks that show up in career and in life are frequently one and the same. 

The International Coaching Federation provides us guidance on whether a client requires therapy. In particular, they recommend referring a client to a therapist or other professional when:

• Issue is outside your competency and experience level 

• Issue interferes with daily functioning 

• Issue is a barrier to making progress in coaching 

• Issue is psychological in nature and deals with deep-seated emotions

(Sources: American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5) (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Association. American Psychological Association. (2017), retrieved from from International Coaching Federation www.coachingfederation.org/client-referral-one-sheet)

Whether to refer someone to therapy is not always black and white. If you come to me as a potential client saying that your energy levels are down at work, that would not trigger me to think you needed therapy. But if you later signaled struggles to function at home as well, I would be curious as to whether you were suffering from maybe a mild depression, and better served by a therapist.

But let's say you approached the coaching sessions with some anabolic energy, were open to shifting your patterns, and exhibited some positive progress on the issues you were looking to be coached on? In that case, coaching is helping you. But I, as the coach, should make sure not to be practicing “therapy”, and be only focused on forwarding the action. If, on the other hand, it becomes clear that you are  being held back in their coaching sessions by something more psychological in nature, you will be better served by a therapist.

Another way of looking at this is where in the spectrum of performance you, as a client, fall. In general, if you feel like you are not functioning well, that you are struggle with normal daily routines, experience anxiety, depression, eating disorders, post-traumatic stress, substance abuse, suicidal ideation, and thought disorders, you need therapy, and not coaching. 

Therapy focuses on mental health and moving from dysfunction to function. Coaching focuses on goals moving from function to optimal.

Therapy helps you understand what you are experiencing and feeling today by digging into your past. Coaching focuses on the client’s current thoughts, emotions, and actions. Coaches partner with clients to help them move past patterns of thoughts/feelings/actions that block a client from achieving what they want.

All that said, most people benefit from both therapy and coaching. As a coach, I want to make sure my client is getting the help they need for any problem that a therapist is more qualified to treat. But you are able to make progress with me while being treated for your therapeutic condition, there is no reason why you can’t do both simultaneously.