What is the Difference Between a Therapist and a Coach?
What is the Difference Between a Therapist and a Coach?
The question about differences between therapist and coaches come up a lot. For some reason, there’s also a lot of confusion about the focus of what therapists AND what coaches do.
The development of the professional coaches have origins in positive psychology, and was was articulated in such a way that emphasized this as, “Coaches are paid cheerleaders, and therapists are knowledgeable mirrors” ( -Jelly @jellynotjilly ). So, after delving into the research, and further talking with more coaches, therapists, and polling the general public, I wanted to debunk some of the myths, share some things I’ve found out, and clarify much of the confusion that seems to prevail.
Myth #1: Coaches work with the future issues (e.g., goals, action-oriented); Therapists work only with the past and present issues, and don't give you actionable advice.
Reality — Yes, coaches work on goals and attainable changes. And, Yes therapists work on past and present aspects of someone's experience, AND usually start therapy by understanding the client's goals for a treatment plan. Some therapists even go so far as to create action items for clients to do between each session. The focus and goal of therapy is often to build insight, emotional intelligence, address trauma, build understanding, and empowerment.
Myth #2: Therapists help mentally 'ill' or 'sick' people get healthy, while coaches are focused on mentally healthy people who are fully functioning.
Reality — For far majority of those in therapy, these individuals are fully-functioning, and have come in to address every-day stressors. Those are are not "fully functioning" or actively diagnosed with a psychoses or hospitalized (who may need higher level of care) actually account for less than 6% of the population. It’s crucial to under this in order to reduce stigma and normalize seeking therapy. Oftentimes, this stigma creates a barrier for those who are fully-functioning AND experience every-day stressors to seek the support that may benefit them. This stigma also comes up a lot more within the context of social norms related to one’s gender (i.e., what it may mean to “be a man” or “men don’t need therapy - they just need a coach”), intersections of cultural norms, or identities.
Myth #3: Coaches work with career goals and work-related things; while therapists work with the personal stuff. If you’re looking for help to grow as a leader, seek out a coach. Therapists do not have training in professional- or career- development matters.
Reality — There are many coaches who can, and do support with personal concerns and do amazing healing work, just like there are therapists who work with individuals on career and professional development matters. There's also specific psychologists who work within larger organizations, corporations, or within Human Resources departments because their focus was in Industrial & Organizational Psychology.
Myth #4: Coaching tends to get results much faster because it’s more intentional, purposeful, and directive. Therapy doesn't get the same results within a short amount of time.
Reality — Just like there are a variety of coaches out there, there are also a variety of therapists. Many medical and western models (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Brief Therapy, One-session therapy) have also developed short-term, directive, and goal-oriented therapy approaches as well. The reality is, if you are seeking purpose, healing, or direction, it's important to gently remember that healing and insight-building is a process and requires active participation. It's more of a matter of finding the right approach and fit for your therapy or coach you're seeking.
Myth #5: Coaches are more positive, encouraging, and uplifting. Therapists are downers, and just want to talk about the negative stuff.
Reality — Many coaching approaches and techniques have been derived from such psychological theories like Positive Psychology, which gives it the "inspirational" or "uplifting" vibe that the coaching industry's reputation may have. Sometimes it can be hard to talk about difficult topics, or emotions that are seen as "negative." Therapists often recognize this difficulty, are motivated to normalize all emotional experiences, and know that there are a variety of ways to move through the strong emotions that may come up. Finding a supportive space, that meets you where you're at is key.
So, what are some general differences between therapist and coach???
Training & Regulations
Therapists & Counselors:
Master's level licensure (e.g., LMFT) = 2-3 years
Doctoral level (e.g., PsyD, PhD, MD) 5-8 years
Both include: clinical hours, state/national board examinations, and academic requirements to be completed
Coaches: No universal regulation for a coach. The training or certification may vary and range in length of training-time from a couple months to one year.
Legal & Ethical standards:
Therapists & Counselors:
State regulated legal and ethical boundaries (which is why there may be restrictions for seeing a therapist in a different state or country); so.....some therapists expand their geographic reach by offering services under a coaching framework instead.
Legal regulations also include boundaries regarding romantic or sexual relationships between client and therapist, and ensuring safety of minors/elders/vulnerable populations.
Confidentiality is strongly regulated based on specific record-keeping, legal proceedings, and communication of information.
Coaches: No universal and legal regulations for a coach. The training or regulations may vary based on program or personal practices
Stigma & Marketing
There's still a stigma and fear about seeing a therapist versus seeing a life coach! So many people are reluctant to attend therapy (or say they’re in therapy), but are willing to meet with a coach (AND, share with others that they’re seeing a coach/life-coach).
Some therapists find that marketing their services as “coaching” allows them to reach clients they would not otherwise reach. Also, by marketing as coaches, therapist can continue their career in the helping field - In a 2016 study of therapists who chose not to get their licenses, or had their licenses revoked simply switched over to marketing as coaching, because it's largely unregulated.
Other characteristics
COST: While I found that the glaring difference may be insurance accessibility for therapists, the out-of-network/pocket costs is actually very similar between the two with skewing slightly more expensive for coaches.
ASSESSMENT & DIAGNOSIS: Therapists have the ability to assess, diagnose, support in hospitalizations, and treat mental illness; with other additional credentials, they're also able to prescribe medication. As such, some therapists may focus their work on identifying and reducing symptoms.
TLDR:
The differences between coaches and therapists might not be accurate, and what you have learned (even through your own coaching training) may actually be a myth! However you find your support, I hope this helps clarify things, and lead you to where you want to go.