I’m often asked how coaching is different from therapy. I usually get this question from potential clients who’ve tried therapy and not found it helpful. They’re skeptical of trying coaching, fearing they will experience similar results.
Therapy, with a qualified Clinical Psychologist or Psychiatrist is a fantasticresource for the right clients, but for those who don’t qualify, it can be a frustrating experience.
Let me explain.
You all know I love football, so I’ll use that sport as an analogy here, but feel free to sub in your dance, lacrosse, or any other favorite team you might like.
In football, when a player on the field is hurt, the coach is not the one to take care of him. He is immediately seen by the team physician. The physician is the one who has the training to fix the broken bones, prescribe surgery for torn ligaments, administer any needed medications, and help rehab any issues, in order to enable the player to be healthy enough to play again.
This is the same role that therapy can play for you, if you have deep, unresolved issues or trauma that needs to be addressed, and you’re not able to function well in your daily life.
Sometimes that looks deep sadness and depression, uncontrollable mental states, inability to feel emotion, altered sleep patterns, or even the inability to show up for daily tasks and missing scheduled appointments.
The doctor is the one for you to see in this case. She is the one who can help you to mend the “broken bones” and get you back on your feet so you’re ready to rejoin the game.
Both the Clinician/therapist and the Coach are necessary. One is not better than the other. Both play important roles and are needed for different things. The optimal situation is when these two fields work closely together, to provide for the best needs of the clients.
When you are functioning well, but not at the level you’d like, a coach is the one who can help you to expand and grow, and take your life to the next level.
Let’s talk about the role of the football coach for a minute.
Though not actually playing in the game, his perspective from the sideline is deeply needed by the players. They are too close to the action to see the full story. They need the coach to call effective plays, maximize their individual strengths, manage the breaks and fatigue, and also help the players to tune out the competing noise from the opposing players and those in the stands.
A good coach helps his players to focus on their goals and implement what they’ve learned in practice, in order to play to the very best of their ability.
A life coach, just like the coach on the sidelines of an NFL game, is the one you need when you are ready to become the champion of your own life.
As a marriage coach, I help my clients to discover their strengths, and also see their blindspots. I help them train and build those mental muscles that allow them to create more balance and joy. I help them learn skills to re-wire their brains and create a future that aligns with their core values. I help them to tune out the negative voices in the crowd,- their friends, family, and most importantly, themselves.
My personal super-power as a coach is the ability to see and love my clients deeply, and unconditionally. And that love is something I help them find for themselves, sometimes for the first time in their lives.
From that space of massive self love and acceptance, my clients are able to take full responsibility for the lives they are creating, and pass that same love on to their loved ones.
This is the life-changing power of coaching.
I recently received this beautiful note from a client,
“The most important thing I’ve learned about myself is that I CAN (and am) a strong, confident, independent woman. I don’t need to rely on anyone else for my happiness. My greatest breakthrough is definitely the way I think. I feel like my brain has been released from a huge fog, and I can think clearly and not let my thoughts spiral out of control. I now know how to adjust my thinking and it’s such a relief.”
Are you ready to release the fog and take your life to the next level?
I invite you to come, work with me.