How is Coaching Different from Talking to a Friend or Going to a Therapist?
Before I get into this juicy topic let’s define what mental health is, according to the World Health Organization (WHO)
Mental health is “A state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with normal stresses of life, can work productively, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community”
Mental health is not about the absence of mental illness. It is about thriving emotionally and psychologically in achieving a sense of well-being that is beyond the baseline of zero or just ok! It affects how people think, feel, and act. In coaching, the mind is not the problem. It is the answer!
What is a Life Coach?
A life coach is like a personal trainer for your mind that helps in broadening your understanding by offering an outside perspective.
When working with a life coach, you gain mental skills and strengths (like self-exploration, self-knowledge, professional development, performance enhancement and better self-management) beyond what you can accomplish alone. For that, a life coach assists and supports you in creating practical step by step action plans to reach your personal goals.
So in other words, a life coach helps you design and improve your life starting with yourself by bridging the gap between where you are now, and where you want to be.
What is the difference between Coaching and Therapy?
Both services are tremendously helpful and can share some overlapping tools. They are significantly different in who they help and the end-result they deliver.
Therapy brings patients from a place of dysfunction to function. It focuses on the past, may include a clinical diagnosis, and deals with unresolved trauma.
Coaching brings people from simply functioning to being amazing. It also deals with thoughts, feelings and experiences without dwelling on the past as much. It focuses on what can be done in the present moment to reach a desired brighter future. Helping clients become the best version of themselves to reach their goals at an accelerated pace is what coaching does.
What is the difference between coaching and talking to a friend?
There is a big difference. A friend may tell you what you want to hear as the friendship is at stake.
A life coach, on the other hand, listens beyond your words, and tells you what you need to hear in a confidential non-judgmental space.
Also a coach will support and guide you through research-based methods to overcome your own obstacles and reach your desired goals.
In conclusion, there is a place for friends, therapy and life coaching. They can all coexist beautifully in serving people at different stages of their lives.
Therapy is when you need to reach the baseline of functionality.
Coaching is when you want to thrive over that baseline to your highest potential.
And friends can of course support you and tag along the way! ☺
