Understanding Coaching vs. Therapy: Making the Right Choice
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Coaching is a developing field that is not regulated by state government or licensing. Coaches can explore a wider array of interest, instruct a wider variety of topics, and face less restrictions in their practice. Coaching is focused on enrichment, growth, and healing in a future-focused, growth driven mindset. Coaches cannot diagnose, provide therapy, or bill insurances.
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Therapists are licensed healthcare professionals in their state of practice. Therapists diagnose, treat, and bill insurances. While there are a wide array of potential modalities, the focus is almost exclusively on treatment. The profession is well-developed and heavily regulated, generally focused on recovery from serious mental illness.
It is important to understand the difference between therapy and coaching. Coaching is not a substitute for any mental health or medical treatment, and is meant for enrichment, personal growth, insight, and skill building. In coaching, we work with you as you are and help you to reach specific goals we set together. A life coach will never provide a diagnosis, treat specific mental health symptoms, nor bill your medical insurance. It is important to understand that these distinctions exist for reasons of ethics and clarity.
If you are booking through this site, you are booking specifically for the purpose of life coaching. An ethical provider of either discipline will do their best to be extremely clear about what they are providing you, so as not to be misleading or unclear. Since some of our coaching providers have separate careers as therapists, so part of our effort here is to ensure you know that Coaches and Therapists fulfill very different needs in very different ways. Our work here is solely focused on coaching and provider training.
If you require mental health treatment, please contact a provider in your area. If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, please dial 988 or 911 for assistance.