Differences Between Life Coaching and Counseling
One of the questions people most commonly ask is “Are life coaching and counseling the same thing?” The simple answer is “No.” However, it’s easy to see how people would think this based on confusing information easily found in books and the internet.
While there are some subtle differences between the two professions, there are some fundamental ones as well. The distinctions are no longer as black and white because of psychologists’ most recent interest in positive psychology (the study of states above zero, or of what makes us joyful). Still, the average client who seeks the services of these psychologists are people who sense something is wrong with them, are interested in addressing an issue in their past, or have overwhelming feelings or emotions that they need to work out to move on in life (ie. depression, addiction, anxiety disorders, etc.)
A life coach tends to be less interested in your past than in your future. Coaches focus on where the client wants to be when the process is finished. They are also less concerned about how the clients feel right now than how they want to feel. This isn’t to say that past experiences and feelings are not important. However, they are only focused on them for re-framing perspectives and thoughts to achieve new action and results. Watch this video to find out about the Time for Life, LLC 8 point coaching process.
Another significant difference is that coaching doesn’t tend to cover as long a period of time as counseling. In most cases, coaches work with clients for periods of 3 to 9 months. After that, we usually work on some maintenance coaching for maintenance, accountability, and motivation.
We want clients to feel empowered, to learn new techniques, and apply them to their daily life so that they can continue creating the changes they desire as they move along their profession and personal life. We want our clients to be equipped with all the tools they need to continue their development after their coaching with us is finished.
The chart below will give you a clear understanding of traditional counseling and life coaching and helps you realize which one is most suited for your needs.
| Traditional Therapy or Counseling | Coaching | |
| Primary Life Focus | A person’s past, which usually includes some form of trauma. Focuses on issues of pathology, healing and unresolved psychological issues of the past, counseling tends to focus in on clients’ problems, helps to promote insight by going through past issues and assessing your mental health status along with your emotional capabilities. Deals with healing emotional pain or conflict within an individual or in a relationship between two people. BUT: some forms of therapy, or individual therapists, do focus on the future. | A person’s current life situation, in order to help them design and act toward the future. While positive feelings may be a natural outgrowth, the primary focus is on creating actionable strategies for achieving specific goals, developing specific skills to overcome obstacles in their path to their goals. While the past may be discussed on occasion, it is addressed only in the context of discovering what is blocking the client from moving forward and reaching their desired outcome and tracking patterns of limiting belief systems, language, and behavior so that client makes useful changes to these self-imposed obstacles.
The emphasis in a coaching relationship is on client accessing their own inner resources, qualities and capabilities, taking action, having accountability and following through, not on insight or understanding of past thoughts or emotions. The process of life coaching enables the client to be self empowered and better able to manage their professional and personal life. |
| Subject Focus | Feelings | Action and outcomes |
| Model | Medical or clinical, relying on diagnosis of pathology or relationship conflicts | Learning/developmental, focusing on attainable goals and possibilities |
| Nature of Issue | Identifiable dysfunction | A successful and functional client desiring a better situation |
| Treatment/View of the Past | Understand and resolve the past | Understanding the past as the context in which future goals are set and tracing self-limiting behaviors to extinguish them and create change. |
| Treatment/View of the Client | Diagnose, provide counsel, give the answers that a client may need to hear | Support, challenge, hold accountable, and inspire a client to see clearly for themselves the right action to take in pursuing their goals, passions, and dreams. Fundamentally, a coach is dedicated to the principle that the client has their own answers, is absolutely capable of achieving the change they desire in their life, and is completely healthy and needs nothing fixed in him or her. The coach is not a consultant prepared to provide an answer to the client and they are not an expert trained in providing a diagnosis. A client that engages a life coach is hiring an expert in self inquiry, empowerment, goal setting and motivation, |
| Questions Asked | WHY? | WHAT? HOW? WHEN? Asking WHY, a form of seeking insight, is emphasized less than action |
| Client Goals | Help patients resolve old pain and improve emotional states | Helps clients learn new skills and tools to build a more satisfying successful future; focuses on goals |
| Accountability for Goals | The goals of therapy are often necessarily vague or intangible, or not easily measured. It can be difficult to identify success with much particularity | Coaching goals, like business goals, usually have to do with one’s external world and behavior, and therefore can be measured. |
| Relationship | Doctor-patient relationship (The therapist is the expert) |
Co-creative equal partnership, team relationship (The coach offers perspectives and helps the clients discover their own answers) |
| Function | The Therapist diagnoses, then provides professional expertise and guidelines to provide a path to healing | The Coach stands with the clients and helps him or her identify the challenges, then partners to turn challenges into victories, holding client accountable to reach desired goals, overcome obstacles, and change limiting patterns of thinking and behavior (if applicable). |
| Training or Educational Background | Therapists require extensive expertise in the subject matter of the therapy: marital counseling, childhood abuse, etc. | Coaches, who deal in process, do not require subject matter expertise. They generally undergo a life coaching certification curriculum program, and may have experience with neuro-linguistic programming, emotional freedom technique, and other success modalities. |
| Training emphasis | Therapists and counselors are trained in healing the pain in the past, focusing on emotional and mental health, and disorders and dealing with problems | Life coaches are generally trained in goal setting, creating fulfillment, interpersonal skills, strategies to overcome negative patterns of thinking and behavior, and to focus your energy and design strategies for turning your goals into action |
| Communication Style | Patient, nurturing, evocative, indirect, parenting, cathartic | The same, excepting parenting, but also catalytic, challenging, direct, straight talk, accountability |
| Rate of Change | Progress is often slow and painful because the issues are often subconscious and fundamental | Growth and progress are rapid, conscious, and usually enjoyable |
| Responsibility for Outcomes | The therapist is responsible for both the process and the outcome | The coach is responsible for the process; the client is responsible for the results |
| Personal Disclosure | Limited, if any, personal disclosure by the therapist | Personal disclosure by the coach may be used when relevant as an aid to communicating (a similarity with mentoring) |
| Payment | Often covered in some part by insurance; almost never by any other third-party | Not covered by insurance; employers may pay for coaching of individuals, business training expense |
| Results | Therapeutic | Action in the real world, action in the client’s professional and/or personal life |
| Part of your life on which each one works with if you looked at the timeline of your life | The domain of a psychologist would be from the day you were born up until today. | The domain of a life coach would be today and into the future. |
| Public impression | The word ‘therapy’ conjures up the notion that someone is in need of help or a cure. | Coaching clients choose to work with a coach because they want to, not because they need to. They are already healthy and successful but want to get more out of their life and reach new levels of personal and/or professional satisfaction. |
| Setting | Therapists often find it difficult to imagine that they could coach without being face to face with their clients. | Coaching usually happens over the phone, although it can also occur in person. Coaches and their clients usually do not find this a difficulty. To the contrary, it can be an advantage as it is more convenient for both client and coach, does not involve travel time or costs, offers clients more anonymity, and encourages coaches to develop exceptional listening skills. |
| Should I hire a counselor or a life coach? | Traditional counseling when they sense something is wrong, are interested in addressing an issue in their past, or have overwhelming feelings or emotions that they need to work out to move on (ie. depression, addiction, anxiety disorders, etc.) | Coaching when they sense something is not quite right, or off a bit, or out of balance – note the distinctions in degree, wherein things aren’t as you’d like them to be.
Coaching when they want to focus on changing future behavior to enhance their fulfillment and performance and reach higher success levels in their personal, professional, or any other segment of their life but haven’t figured out how to get there. |
| Can you work with both? | Therapists are likely to refer clients to coaches more often once their clients reach a place where they are ready to take more action or achieve excellence in their lives. | Coaches will increasingly refer a client to therapy when the client seems inappropriate for coaching or gets stuck on an issue that is not being resolved in coaching. |
Learn the similarities between counseling and life coaching, the way in which our coaching process works, our coaching programs, and the history behind coaching.
 | I'm really looking forward to working with you to reach new heights of success and balance in your personal and professional life! Sonia Gallagher, JD Executive Life Coach PS. If you are ready to be challenged, to steer your life in a new direction, and to achieve the goals you desire, I invite you to request a Free Success Reboot Coaching Session and Experience Coaching and How It Can Benefit You First-hand! |
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