How is Coaching Different from Psychotherapy?

by Lyndra Hearn Antonson, CPCC, MSW

This is a frequently asked and important question! Both services are valuable and have their special place.

Generally, therapy is about identifying how the past is having a negative impact on the present and healing it. Often the client is experiencing some symptoms of emotional and physical discomfort. He/she may feel stuck in unhealthy patterns or relationships. Traditionally, the therapist is viewed as an expert with answers.

One tool I frequently used in my therapy practice was to have the client make a list of up to 10 of their most negative life experiences from childhood to the present. We then explored which of those past experiences still held a strong negative emotional charge. Often a negative belief about oneself had been acquired at the time of the experience and carried forth into the present. Therapy involves healing those negative beliefs and feelings so the client can be free to create a healthy, happy present. (There are a variety of healing tools and modalities that vary from therapist to therapist. One I used was EMDR or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing.)

Coaching is about envisioning your best possible life and moving forward to create it. The emphasis is on the present and future. When negative beliefs (or gremlins) present themselves, they are acknowledged; there may be discussion around how to banish or quiet them, but not a delving into when and how they originated. The client is viewed as the expert on his/her own life.

Coaching is for people who are functioning fairly well in most areas of their lives and have a desire to live more fully, more joyfully, and/or with greater ease and balance. Life is fair to good and they want to bump it up a notch or two or ten!

Feelings are the realm of both therapy and coaching. Feelings are information about what’s going on inside of us. They are a way we express ourselves. They are a way we release energy. They are a way life comes alive for us. It is only when we deny or bury our feelings that they become a problem for us.

Coaching and psychotherapy are compatible. Some individuals work with both a coach and a therapist simultaneously. Others may choose to work with one and then the other. You get to decide what will work best for you!

If you are in doubt about whether you need a coach or a psychotherapist, you can ask. Call a coach or a therapist that you or someone you know is familiar with and discuss it with them. I am also happy to answer any questions or concerns you may have.

 

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