Life coaches and psychotherapists both seek to help their clients through major life events, facilitating changes in their lives and improving their overall wellness. The two types of practices overlap and have similarities in how they interact with clients, however, there are also dissimilarities to consider when you are choosing between the two and what would work better for you.
What Is a Life Coach
A life coach is a professional who helps clients reach greater life fulfillment. These professionals help people unlock their potential through personalized strategies. They empower you to leverage your strengths to achieve lasting results. Life coaches work with you to craft a plan to create sustainable change in your life. They identify what is holding you back by focusing on the obstacles keeping you from your goals and helping you overcome them.
What Is a Psychotherapist
A psychotherapist is a broad title for professionals who can help people rehabilitate, are social workers, counselors, psychiatric nurses, psychologists, or have different focuses, such as marriage, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety. There are subspecialties that psychotherapists have concentrations in, like art therapy, family therapy, addiction therapy, behavioral disorder therapy, and so on.
Similarities in Life Coaching vs. Therapy
Life coaches and psychotherapists draw from the same foundations to explore human growth and development. They each rely on established theories regarding human behavior and change. An example is the “Self-Determination Theory,” which is the intrinsic ability to make choices and manage your own life. Another concept is “Locus Control,” a person’s perception of why main life events have occurred—controlled by oneself or external forces. Both rely on emphasizing well-being and strength-based thinking.
Difference Between Life Coaches and Psychotherapists
Despite relying on similar foundations and schools of thought, life coaches and psychotherapists approach the healing process of their clients differently. The main difference to take note of is the years of education. Psychotherapists receive higher education, master’s degrees, or doctorates in the field, whereas life coaches receive shorter training and certificates. A life coach may be more limited in knowledge and resources for clients who suffer or express help with troubling obsessions, self-destructive thoughts, or charged emotional statements. On the other hand, they have refined techniques to help clients facing despair, self-sabotage, or harsh self-criticism, particularly when struggling with new health habits. These methods emphasize empathy, valuing strengths, and reaffirming core values.
What to Expect
When attending therapy, expect to dive into the psychological connections among emotions, beliefs, past experiences, behaviors, and bodily health. Major life events, fears, worries, and other matters are discussed and processed. It is a vulnerable space where trust is built between the client and the psychotherapist.
In life coaching sessions, the goal is to focus on achieving life goals, including health habits, wellness, exercise, weight, nutrition, stress management, or general health. Psychological connections in behavior are not deeply explored. Because life coaches have limited training in emotional events, they are only acknowledged as far as is needed to enhance awareness and provide the client with some reassurance. Understanding a life coach and therapist’s purposes and focuses will help you choose which will work best for you.