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Finding the right professional to help you with your struggles requires knowing your options. This guide explains the difference between therapy and coaching.
What Is Therapy?
Therapy, also called counseling, helps with resolving mental health challenges. If you battle with mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, or addiction, or you have been through traumatic events, you may benefit from therapy.
Talking with a psychotherapist may be the start of your healing journey. You will most likely address early childhood and past trauma to understand the patterns that continue to show up in your life that are affecting your emotional well-being.
Many therapists have specializations and service-specific locations. Seeking anxiety therapy in Puerto Rico or the Bay Area is key if you are ready to address your mental health concerns.
What are life coaches?
Life coaches do not focus on discovering the core of your anxiety and stress or other mental health conditions. Rather, coaching focuses on the here and now and helps you to build self-confidence and self-efficacy by setting goals and taking immediate action.
Life coaching can be beneficial, especially if you're ready to make changes, but need help with accountability and motivation. Therapy can help with some of your underlying issues, while coach is more goal focused on taking action to move forward with your life. Coaching might be seen as the "how" to make changes, while therapy focuses more on the "why" or "what" we're doing that keeps us stuck.
What Is the Difference between therapy vs life coaching?
You may be asking, "what is the difference between therapy vs life coaching?" There are five main distinctions:
1. The Issues You Struggle With
Therapy addresses many mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety and stress, unresolved trauma, or addictive behavior. A therapist in the Bay Area can help you to uncover the root of the your mental health struggles.
Life coaching, on the other hand, does not address the cause of mental health conditions. Life coaching helps you move forward while you are emotionally stable, but want to create a plan of how achieve your goals. Coaching will usually begin when you are ready to make a change in your life.
Sometimes coaches may have personal experience of a particular mental health situations. However, they are still instructed to refer you to a licensed therapist since that is outside their scope of practice.
2. The Orientation
A therapist will help you look deeper into your symptoms and mental health condition. Often, this means going back to your past experiences. In a nutshell, therapy looks into how your past continues to affect your present day life.
Therapy can help you recognize what that contributed to how you cope with certain situations, the reoccurring thoughts that are difficult to manage, and patterns in relationships. Therapy can help you begin your healing journey. This is where anxiety therapy or therapy for your specific situation can help.
Coaching is more focused on the present. A trained coach will look into the now and help you to assess what is working well and what needs to be modified in your life. Coaches help you put into action what you want to make the necessary changes.
In coaching, you will work with the resources you have available at the given moment. This will help you with making shifts that will move you forward.
3. Guidance
Talking with a psychotherapist can help you to uncover any underlying issues you may not be aware of. Therapy can help you see situations or experiences from a different perspective. A licensed therapist in California or Puerto Rico with extensive experience in the field will help you to navigate through.
The dynamic of the coach-client relationship is different from that of the therapist-patient. A coach can guide you in your health and wellness journey. A coach helps keep you accountable, so you can make any necessary adjustments as you go along. The active role of a coach is to help you acknowledge any obstacles you may face and learn how to overcome them.
4. Sessions
The key difference between therapy vs life coaching is the tools. Both sessions ask powerful questions, help with your self-discovery journey, and look into your thoughts and feelings. However, how this is done differs.
Therapy focuses on exploring your emotions and behavioral patterns through various tools, such as interview and observation techniques. They help you to share your feelings and experiences.
During a coaching session, you will set behavioral goals. The aim of setting behavioral goals is to facilitate your transformation and create momentum in your life .
5. Accreditation
Another main difference between therapy vs life coaching is the credentials. Of course, both have high criteria to meet, but a therapist needs a post-graduate education, as well as to be licensed by the state where they are practicing. Many coaching are certified, however there is not governing body which oversees coaching.
Therapists are governed by each state and licensing bodies. They also have some restrictions on where and how they can practice. That is why having a local anxiety therapist can be handy.
Coaches may be credentialed by diverse coaching programs, and they usually are not restricted by other governing boards.
Do You Need Anxiety Therapy in the Bay Area or Puerto Rico?
Now you know the main differences between therapy and coaching. There are many benefits of therapy, so if you struggle with anxiety, look up anxiety therapy in Puerto Rico.
We offer both coaching and counseling in Puerto Rico. In addition, we service those in the Bay Area/Silicon Valley of California.
If you are ready, schedule an appointment today. If you're interested in life coaching services click here to learn more.
***The ideas, concepts, and opinions expressed in all Living Openhearted posts are intended to be used for educational purposes only. The author and publisher are not rendering medical advice of any kind, nor are intended to replace medical advice, nor to diagnose, prescribe, or treat any disease, condition, illness, or injury. It is imperative that before beginning any diet or exercise program, you receive full medical clearance from a licensed physician. Authors and publisher claim no responsibility to any person or entity for any liability, loss, or damage as a result of the use, application, or interpretation of the material.