What’s the Difference Between Coaching and Therapy?

The first step towards growth, healing, and getting aligned with your purpose is knowing what kind of support you need (and not all coaches and therapists are created equal). Knowing what kind of support you need can be so tricky. I’ve been in therapy since early 2020 (thank goddess) and have also invested in coaching — at their best they complement each other.

Coaching is not therapy, but when done well and through a trauma-informed approach it can be incredibly therapeutic.

Often the difference between coaching and therapy can be described as “goal-oriented” vs. “process-oriented.” Here’s a short, incomplete list of the qualities to expect with coaching vs. therapy:

Coaching:

• typically goal-oriented

• not equipped to diagnose

• a degree or certification is not required

• not restricted to any certain location or method of delivering services

• typically shorter commitment of time with more of a focus on a certain outcome

• relieves feelings of “stuckness”

Therapy:

• process-oriented

• equipped to diagnose

• requires an advanced degree and a state license to practice

• limited in where and how they are able to offer services

• tend to be longer time commitments or life-long

• not focused on outcomes or “solutions”

A coach can help guide you in taking specific actions and achieving certain goals.

Your therapist might not be able to tangibly help you build the foundation of your anti-capitalist biz, or provide you with a “road map” to bring your vision to life.

You might want a therapist to help you feel safe to process deep, family issues, experiences of abuse, or things of that more complex nature, and not necessarily provide you with solutions. (Not everything has or needs a “solution”).

Good therapists will help you feel emotionally regulated, attuned, seen, heard, and so will a good coach!

I recommend “shopping around” when it comes to finding a coach or therapist.

We can also draw a Venn diagram of coaching and therapy. Here’s where we might find overlap:

• not all coaches and therapists are “trauma-informed”

• the best ones teach you tools to “self-coach” or “re-parent”

• can complement each other

• can blend psychoeducation like Attachment Theory, Internal Family Systems, Polyvagal Theory, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Motivational Interviewing

• can blend a focus on cognition, as well as behaviors

• can help you become aware of unconscious processes and patterns

• SHOULD ALWAYS acknowledge the social systems and structures in which the client is embedded (white supremacy, patriarchy, capitalism, ongoing colonization), as well as power dynamics within client/coach or client/therapist relationship

Getting clear about our needs, and understanding how different people can or can’t show up for us, is not only relevant when you’re looking for a coach or therapist, but also when you’re looking to develop or evolve your friendships or intimate partnerships.

If you’re interested in coaching with me, our sessions will blend both processing, as well as tangible outcomes. My coaching infuses astrology into the mix and this provides a dynamic of “consultation” rather than a “reading.” The difference being that we are in collaboration when we look at your chart instead of me just telling you my interpretation.

You are the expert of your life. I’m doing my best to interpret what I see while taking into account the context of who you are and your life’s events and patterns up to the point of our meeting. I ultimately act as a mirror of what you already know.

While astrology can be a tool for prediction, I encourage people to remember that you’re also an agent of your life.

Your birth chart is a powerful mirror for the events in your life, and there are million ways these transits, planets, and energies can play out. It’s more about what the symbols of the chart mean, how they’re interacting with each other, how they’re interacting with the world and structures we live in, and what patterns have been playing out in your life.

All of this gives us context and clues for what you can expect, or the energy the you can anticipate working with moving forward.

Okay mini astrology rant aside: In my opinion, it’s deeply impactful to find a coach and/or therapist who is trauma-informed and can help you process big emotions, as well as teach you somatic experiencing techniques because trauma stuck and stored in the body is at the root of what’s keeping us “stuck” from achieving our goals.

This way you can move through difficult periods of your life with more confidence and capacity. This is not to say we don’t need support or that we can’t rely on each other, not at all. But we live in a world, unfortunately, where many of us don’t learn the skills needed to “self-coach,” “self-soothe,” or “re-parent.” And these can be life-saving resources for us when we’re experiencing despair.

I hope explaining this difference brought you some insight and ease if you’ve been trying to decide what kind of support you need.

Sending you all my feminist killjoy love,
Erin

P.S. As someone who is a trauma-informed mindset and business coach, and a certified Trauma of Money practitioner, I can help you with healing your relationship with money, business, and self-worth by teaching you about how your nervous system plays a huge role in re-wiring unhelpful patterns, so you can feel secure in embodying your purpose and pursuing your most aligned path. Whether you’re hoping to build your own anti-capitalist business without compromising your values or integrity, or you’d like to feel less hazy and hopeless about your future and the direction you’re going in, my style of coaching can help you strategize and launch.

If you’d like to learn more you can book your free Clarity Call here to chat about working 1:1 with me!

P.P.S. Have you checked out my free workshop, Harmonize? This workshop will teach you the framework I use with my coaching clients for harmonizing your anti-capitalist values with your business and entrepreneurial goals, so you can stop doubting yourself and start feeling secure in what you're offering the world.

As always feel free to email me any questions at erin@erinkmonahan.com or DM on Instagram @erin.k.monahan :)