Why Coaching?
Great coaching can live in the magical intersection of a Venn diagram that includes: Therapy, Wise friend, Benevolent Aunt, Cheerleader, Healer, Spiritual companion, Teacher, and Trainer.
Coaching is decidedly not any one of these things on their own (see more below about therapy in particular)…and yet it can be greater than the sum of its parts. Alchemy. I know this because I have witnessed the difference it can make in people’s lives, and I’ve experienced it myself.
So what exactly is coaching?
In a very general sense, a life coach helps people identify and clarify what they want most from life and how best to achieve it. More specifically, coaching helps people get past their obstacles in order to create the results they want in work, relationships, body and health, spiritual growth, etc. It is not about telling people what they should do; rather, it’s about asking powerful questions to help a client find the answers that always lie within and supporting the actions taken from there. Coaching is particularly helpful for people who feel out of balance in their lives and don’t feel like they are living fully as themselves in every area.
How does coaching differ from therapy?
One analogy I find useful is that a therapist is to a life coach as an orthopedist or physical therapist is to a personal trainer. Just as one would never go to a personal trainer for an injury, there are issues (trauma, deep emotional wounds, mental illness) that can and should only be handled with a professional therapist.
Coaching can, however, be a great compliment to therapy (as I have found it to be myself).
Whereas traditional therapy tends to deal with the past and how it affects the present, coaching typically deals with the present and the future, and can assist to change current mindsets and beliefs resulting from past experience.
Coaching can also work for people who aren’t looking for therapy at all, but who simply want to work on attaining their fullest lives and selves, either concentrating on specific areas (i.e., a creative pursuit, job satisfaction, body image, whether to leave a relationship, wanting more joy and freedom, etc.), or life overall.
That said, I want to be very clear that coaching is no substitute for therapy. Since life coaching is not a licensed field, just about anyone can hang a shingle that says “Life Coach” and take clients. I feel an ethical responsibility to refer any current or potential client to a licensed therapist should issues arise that are beyond what coaching can be. This is also one of the reasons why getting training and certification in programs that I feel aligned with has been important to me.