Is Coaching Like Therapy or Counseling?

Coaching is not therapy or counseling. They appear alike in that you meet and talk regularly.

Coaching is based on the client taking action, and coaching sessions focus on identifying those actions the client will take during the next week. If you're looking to relate coaching to something else, coaching is much more like a personal trainer/client relationship.

One of the basic precepts of coaching is that the client has his/her own answers, and coaches simply assist the client in finding and clarifying their own answers.

If, during the course of a coaching partnership, I recognize that a client needs therapy or counseling, I will immediately refer them and ask that they get the help they need. Sometimes, this means that coaching must be suspended; other times, we can continue to coach while the client gets therapy.

Once you've tried coaching, you'll more clearly recognize the distinction between these two professions.

Thomas Leonard, founder of Coach University, a virtual university for personal and business coaches, made the following distinctions between coaching and therapy:

Therapy moves you from dysfunctional to functional.
Coaching moves you from functional to exceptional.

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