LIFE COACH VS. THERAPIST
One of the biggest myths about life coaching is that it’s just a cover for therapy, or worse, therapy provided by an unlicensed practitioner. In truth, life coaching is a stand-alone service created to assist ambitious achievers in achieving the results that will lead to their success and fulfillment in all aspect of their lives. Here are some key distinctions between a life coach and a therapist, along with a general timeline for when each service is necessary.
DEFINING TERMS: THERAPIST VS. LIFE COACH
What is counseling? Therapy, more often known as counseling or psychotherapy, is a protracted process in which a patient collaborates with a healthcare provider to identify and treat troublesome thoughts, actions, interpersonal conflicts, emotions, and occasionally bodily reactions. The goal of therapy is to use prior traumas and concerns to alter damaging behaviors, mend and enhance relationships, and work through uncomfortable emotions. In this way, therapy emphasizes reflection and analysis of the past in order to resolve present problems and build a better, more secure future.
How does life coaching work? In life coaching, a client collaborates with a coach who is not a healthcare provider to identify obstacles and problematic behaviors, clarify goals, and develop action plans to get the results they want. The fundamental difference between a life coach and a therapist is that the former views the client’s current starting point as a suitable neutral ground and shifts to an action-based approach from there. A life coach gives the client the power to take charge of their life and make decisions that will move it in the direction of their objectives.
THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THERAPISTS AND LIFE COACHES
Although they occasionally assist clients with comparable issues, life coaches and therapists perform different types of work. The most noticeable distinctions between a life coach and therapist are listed below.
ONE DIFFERENCE:
THE PROGRAM’S PRIMARY GOAL
One of the key differences between life coaching and therapy is its emphasis. Life coaches help clients recognize and describe their current harmful behaviors so that they can take steps to change them. Therapists use historical analysis to better comprehend the client’s present-day behavior. In other words, whereas coaches work on “how” to achieve a goal, therapists concentrate on “why” specific behavioral patterns develop.
Your thoughts, feelings, and how your past influences them will be the main topics of your therapy. While you explore your blueprint and dissect your limiting beliefs during life coaching, while ideas may come up, the main emphasis is always on the now and the future.
Two differences:
PURPOSE OF PROGRAM
It’s crucial to note that counseling aids clients in discovering and comprehending their subconscious and unconscious minds when comparing coaching and counseling practices. In order to promote general mental health, it seeks to gain a comprehensive understanding of habits and patterns. Counseling and therapy are therefore beneficial for conditions like sadness and anxiety.
Your “unstuckness” is what life coaching aims to help you with. The goal of life coaching is to get results. KPIs and specific behavioral outcomes are how life coaches gauge their clients’ achievement. On the path to realizing your aspirations, they’ll support you in setting SMART objectives, hold you accountable, and help you celebrate your successes.
THIRD DIFFERENCE:
FRAMEWORK
While both therapy and life coaching involve talking with a qualified practitioner, Many of the organizational parallels between them stop there. More free-form sessions that are determined by the client and the style of therapy are part of therapy. Sessions with a life coach are significantly more organized, with an emphasis on practical solutions and audible progress.
The services also differ in length. Many people commit to treatment over a lengthy period of time, often for their entire lives. A life coach equips clients with the procedures and abilities they will eventually need to coach themselves, which is the major distinction between them and therapists. Life coaching isn’t intended to last a lifetime. Additionally, life coaches don’t make medical diagnoses about the clients they deal with, whereas therapists do so that their patients can receive clinical care.
COMMONALITIES BETWEEN THERAPY AND A LIFE COACH
While the answer to the question “What is therapy?” and what a life coach does are extremely different, there are some parallels. Both strive to give clients the tools they need to improve their lives and increase their productivity. Not all therapy customers are sick, despite the fact that therapists diagnose and treat from a healthcare viewpoint; many healthy people use the services of both therapists and life coaches. The termination of a specific troublesome behavior is one example of a specific outcome that therapists may strive for.
The work and procedures of therapists and life coaches are distinct, notwithstanding certain instances of overlap.
A LIFE COACH PROVIDES DIRECTION BY ASSISTING CLIENTS:
- Identify and fulfill both personal and professional objectives.
- Plan your business.
- Work on enhancing communicative abilities
- Obtain financial security and independence
- Strive for work-life harmony
- Launch a new business or expand an existing one.
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