There seems to be much contention about life coach vs. therapist out there today, and it is very disturbing to hear some of the claims about life coaches. Some say that life coaches are creating a catastrophic mental health issue, and they are unethical, illegally providing therapy and should not be trying to analyze a person’s well-being and mental health.
It is extremely troubling because therapy is a central part of life coaching and when you say I need a life coach or I need a therapist, you are essentially asking for the same thing. Both a therapist and a life counselor engage in dialogue about the client’s inner self and encourage and provide solutions for life challenges that instill lasting personal accountability and development.
Therapy and life coaching give the client the needed support during times of trouble and many accredited therapist today have taken on both roles to help their clients improve the overall quality of their mental health and their lives. Life coaching is about helping achieve goals and dreams, and the therapy portion is about learning what behaviors, thoughts, and mental issues are preventing reaching those goals and dreams.
Combining the Benefits
By combining therapy and life coaching, the benefits to the client will be much more substantial in improving their overall quality of life and healing mentally. By using theory based therapy combined with the life change understanding of coaching you gain the benefits of a true look into how to obtain your dreams and what is hindering your realization of the life you desire.
Dialogue and Support
A life counselor and therapist both use dialogue to understand what is hindering their lives from obtaining goals and changes that need to be made to better them. They also both offer support systems for the clients to continuously touch base and gather new coping, healing and guidance techniques so they can reshape and change their lives.
Personal Touch
When people enter therapy, a general complaint is that the therapist does not offer a more personal means of solving life problems and seems removed from the client. When combining the contentious life coach vs. therapist controversy, you allow for a more personable experience. A coach actually walks through life with the client while providing sound therapy to help them understand the life they are walking through.
There are many similarities when asking the questions do I need a life coach or do I need a therapist and by combining the efforts of both experiences, will leave the client a more sustainable solution to life change. Understanding the underlying mental health issues and dealing with emotional struggles will help the individual understand what is holding them back from obtaining the change in their life they desire and how better to obtain their goals and dreams.
Sasha Raskin, a therapist in Boulder, provides individual and family therapy / counseling in Boulder, Colorado, and worldwide via video and phone calls, drawing from over ten years of clinical experience. Schedule your free 20-minute phone consultation with Sasha Raskin