What's The Difference Between Coaching and Therapy?
Well, it's a good question, but there are some big differences:
In the corporate world, it's a pretty obvious difference. An employee might be identified as a candidate for coaching for one of two reasons:
If someone has therapy-worthy issues, coaching generally won't work. Coaching assumes a mentally healthy individual taking their performance to the next level (whereas therapy generally assumes a significant block that precludes transformation and requires a therapeutic approach by a licensed professional.) While coaching often feels quite therapeutic and empowering, they are very different. No coach should be taking on clients in need of therapy (unless they happened to also be a mental health professional)
For the average individual grappling with an issue or circumstance, it might be appropriate to hire a coach or it may be more appropriate to seek a therapist to resolve deeper issues.
When hiring a coach is the right answer:
We assume that people seeking coaching are fully functioning, capable human beings...they might be stuck, or might need an outside ear to help then sort through current challenges, but they are fully capable of making whatever decisions they need to make to propel their life in the direction they desire to go. The coach helps to get them there faster:
And occasionally, a client might get emotional when the coaching conversation touches on something deeply important to that client. It should be noted that crying is a legitimate and normal human emotion and is sometimes highly cathartic. For whatever reason, out of all the human emotions, crying gets a bad rap. Even at a company called Optimism Inc, we believe you can cry your face off if you want to and it doesn't mean a thing.
Crying is not indicative of weakness, nor are the presence of tears indicative of a need for therapy.
When is it appropriate to seek therapy rather than hire a coach?
Therapy is conducted under the licensed care of a psychologist or therapist. Coaches are not therapists (unless they coincidentally and quite separately happen to have undergone training to be a therapist, which is totally different from coach training).
Generally, someone seeks a therapist when efforts on their own do not produce results and there is some psychological block or repeated issue/pattern preventing a person from acting independently to resolve their own challenges. There are many clinical diagnoses that would suggest the need for a therapist: depression, unexplained anxiety, paralyzing thoughts or behaviors, psychological trauma, to name a few. A coach is not a clinician and is not skilled to deal with these aforementioned issues.
If for any reason, it should become apparent to the coach that therapy would seem to be a better course of action than coaching (or that therapy might help if added on top of the coaching), a legitimate and responsible coach will inform the client of this opinion immediately, and provide potential referrals if appropriate therapists are known for a given client's circumstances (assuming the client wants a referral from the coach.)
Not only will coaching not work when an individual needs therapy, it is unethical and against the International Coach Federation Code of Ethical Conduct for a coach to continue to coach a person whom they believe to be in need of a mental health professional, without raising this issue with the client. Even if the client wants to continue coaching and does not wish to seek therapy, if the coach feels the client's issue is one requiring a mental health professional, the coach cannot ethically continue to coach this individual. Coaching is NOT a substitute for therapy.
How does a coach know that a client should be referred to a therapist?
Examples of a coach deciding to refer a client to a mental health professional include but are not limited to:
(*In the case of suicidal feelings or the intent to harm another, the coach would likely report this behavior to any or all of the following: the individual's employer who has hired the coach; parents who have hired the coach for their child; the client's psychologist; reporting the concern to emergency services if the case is severe.)
When might coaching and therapy work together successfully?
If a person decides to seek treatment by a mental health professional to resolve issues either through counseling, medication or both, then the coaching could effectively continue, depending on the circumstances. The client may even choose to have the coach and therapist collaborate. While every person's circumstances are different, it is a common and successful formula. For example, a person who has ADD might engage:
It is also common that someone dealing with depression or unusually high levels of anxiety, might go on a medication regimen and find they wish to continue psychological counseling with their therapist, but are ready to resume or start coaching, now that they have returned to being their "fully functioning self."
At Optimism Inc, we have had successes working with the type of clients depicted in these examples. The critical factor is that symptoms must be resolved through medication and/or counseling for coaching to be successful.
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In the corporate world, it's a pretty obvious difference. An employee might be identified as a candidate for coaching for one of two reasons:
- Performance Management (i.e., an employee is not performing up to company standards and a coach is brought in to see if performance can be rectified. And in severe cases, might be a transitional step (outplacement) to another, more suitable job for that individual. Performance Management is estimated to be 25% of coaching engagements, though at Optimism, Inc., we generally do not engage in Performance Management coaching as it is rare, at least in our experience, to attain truly transformational results in such cases.
- High Potentials (75% of executive coaching engagements) is bringing in a coach to work with exceptionally talented employees who still desire to refine their craft. They might have a particular skill they want to enhance to steepen the trajectory of their careers (E.g., maybe they want to be a more assertive leader, or a more empathetic boss, or they want to be promoted to the next level and need to finesse certain parts of their leadership to get there.) A coach is hired to help them get to these goals faster.
If someone has therapy-worthy issues, coaching generally won't work. Coaching assumes a mentally healthy individual taking their performance to the next level (whereas therapy generally assumes a significant block that precludes transformation and requires a therapeutic approach by a licensed professional.) While coaching often feels quite therapeutic and empowering, they are very different. No coach should be taking on clients in need of therapy (unless they happened to also be a mental health professional)
For the average individual grappling with an issue or circumstance, it might be appropriate to hire a coach or it may be more appropriate to seek a therapist to resolve deeper issues.
When hiring a coach is the right answer:
We assume that people seeking coaching are fully functioning, capable human beings...they might be stuck, or might need an outside ear to help then sort through current challenges, but they are fully capable of making whatever decisions they need to make to propel their life in the direction they desire to go. The coach helps to get them there faster:
- A coach will clarify goals with clients and inspire them into resourceful, accountable action.
- A coach will point out beliefs they hear the client holding which do not serve them.
- A coach will listen deeply and be a huge champion for the client's desired success.
And occasionally, a client might get emotional when the coaching conversation touches on something deeply important to that client. It should be noted that crying is a legitimate and normal human emotion and is sometimes highly cathartic. For whatever reason, out of all the human emotions, crying gets a bad rap. Even at a company called Optimism Inc, we believe you can cry your face off if you want to and it doesn't mean a thing.
Crying is not indicative of weakness, nor are the presence of tears indicative of a need for therapy.
When is it appropriate to seek therapy rather than hire a coach?
Therapy is conducted under the licensed care of a psychologist or therapist. Coaches are not therapists (unless they coincidentally and quite separately happen to have undergone training to be a therapist, which is totally different from coach training).
Generally, someone seeks a therapist when efforts on their own do not produce results and there is some psychological block or repeated issue/pattern preventing a person from acting independently to resolve their own challenges. There are many clinical diagnoses that would suggest the need for a therapist: depression, unexplained anxiety, paralyzing thoughts or behaviors, psychological trauma, to name a few. A coach is not a clinician and is not skilled to deal with these aforementioned issues.
If for any reason, it should become apparent to the coach that therapy would seem to be a better course of action than coaching (or that therapy might help if added on top of the coaching), a legitimate and responsible coach will inform the client of this opinion immediately, and provide potential referrals if appropriate therapists are known for a given client's circumstances (assuming the client wants a referral from the coach.)
Not only will coaching not work when an individual needs therapy, it is unethical and against the International Coach Federation Code of Ethical Conduct for a coach to continue to coach a person whom they believe to be in need of a mental health professional, without raising this issue with the client. Even if the client wants to continue coaching and does not wish to seek therapy, if the coach feels the client's issue is one requiring a mental health professional, the coach cannot ethically continue to coach this individual. Coaching is NOT a substitute for therapy.
How does a coach know that a client should be referred to a therapist?
Examples of a coach deciding to refer a client to a mental health professional include but are not limited to:
- signs of depression
- continued "flatness" in coaching conversations
- repeated hopeless attitude by the client
- unusual levels of unexplained anxiety and/or the inability to "cope"
- an intuitive feeling on the part of the coach that something "isn't right"
- the inability to see any "movement" over the course of several months of coaching or a client's unwillingness to move off of a given subject that is paralyzing the client
- the mention of suicidal feelings or the intent to harm another*
(*In the case of suicidal feelings or the intent to harm another, the coach would likely report this behavior to any or all of the following: the individual's employer who has hired the coach; parents who have hired the coach for their child; the client's psychologist; reporting the concern to emergency services if the case is severe.)
When might coaching and therapy work together successfully?
If a person decides to seek treatment by a mental health professional to resolve issues either through counseling, medication or both, then the coaching could effectively continue, depending on the circumstances. The client may even choose to have the coach and therapist collaborate. While every person's circumstances are different, it is a common and successful formula. For example, a person who has ADD might engage:
- a therapist (to resolve psychological issues such as self worth)
- to take medication (to resolve symptoms like impulse control)
- and a coach (to help them set up organizational systems, accountability structures and be a huge champion on the side lines, cheering for each and every success the client experiences through coaching.)
It is also common that someone dealing with depression or unusually high levels of anxiety, might go on a medication regimen and find they wish to continue psychological counseling with their therapist, but are ready to resume or start coaching, now that they have returned to being their "fully functioning self."
At Optimism Inc, we have had successes working with the type of clients depicted in these examples. The critical factor is that symptoms must be resolved through medication and/or counseling for coaching to be successful.
Click here to return to Click here to return to
the FAQ Home Page the page on ADD Coaching
Ready to talk? Click to contact us.
