The Difference Between Coaching and Therapy (and Why You Probably Need Both)
As our understanding of “health” in the Western world finally becomes more inclusive of emotions, behaviors and cognitive processing, therapy is becoming more widely accepted as a standard practice for maintaining wellness and contributing to healthy relationships. This is something to truly celebrate! And while I would argue that therapy is a necessary part of EVERY executive’s wellness strategy, its purpose and function in one’s life differs from that of an executive coach. And if you are to really excel as a leader during this time of high stress and uncertainty, having both a therapist and a coach can help you not only find greater success for yourself, but will help you to better motivate and support your team.
So just how are therapy and coaching different? Here are a few ways coaching is distinct from therapy:
1. Focus on Actionable Goals vs. Emotional Processing:
While therapy often involves exploring and processing past experiences, emotions and traumas, coaching is more forward-looking, focusing on setting and achieving specific goals.
2. Performance vs. Healing:
The primary aim of coaching is to enhance performance or change specific behaviors and skills that can contribute to a person's success or personal satisfaction. In contrast, therapy aims to heal, resolve, and understand psychological issues that might affect a person's emotional state.
3. Contextual Application vs. General Psychological Exploration:
Coaches usually operate within the specific context of the goals set by their clients, which could be related to career, personal life, health, or relationships. Therapists, however, may engage in a broader exploration of a person's psyche and life patterns without a fixed objective or context.
4. Duration and Scope:
Coaching relationships often have a defined duration with specific objectives intended to be accomplished within that timeframe. Therapy can be more open-ended, addressing long-term mental health issues or ongoing personal development without a predefined endpoint.
Does this mean coaches only hang out on the surface with you? Not at all. The right coach will ask you tough questions, make you challenge your assumptions about yourself and others, and will hold up a mirror so you can see yourself with more clarity, warts and all. The main difference is that coaches are responsible for working with you to set goals and co-create a road map to get you there. And since no two leadership journeys are the same, the best coach is one who is curious enough to try to understand your terrain and makes no assumptions about your story—past, present or future.
At Growth by Design, we bring together goal setting, mindfulness Techniques and basics in BEHAVIORAL brain science to help you create lasting change at work and in your life.
As both a coach and a coachee, and as someone who has leaned on mental health clinicians for well over a decade, I know one thing is true: my cup would have dried up a longgggg time ago had I not invested in my mental and emotional wellbeing.
If you are feeling burned out, or like you just can’t seem to get traction toward the future you want in your role, maybe it’s time to take the first step. But as any good coach would say, it’s up to you. If what you are doing is working, then keep it up.
