Coaching vs. Therapy: Understanding The Differences
- Richie Kyriacou
- Apr 28
- 5 min read
There’s a point in life where we feel stuck. Not broken. Just unsure.
Something just feels off. Maybe it’s work, your relationships, a lack of direction or a lack of energy. Sometimes when we get to these points, we’re not sure what kind of help we actually need.
That’s where the confusion often begins: Should I see a therapist or hire a life coach? What’s the difference? Which one is right for me?
These are valid questions.
Therapy and coaching can look similar from the outside: both involve conversation, both involve growth and both can create lasting change in your life. But the intention, structure and outcomes can be very different.
Coaching vs Therapy: The Core Difference
The simplest way to explain it is this:
Therapy is about healing the past.
Coaching is about creating the future.
During sessions, most coaches will not spend time working through past traumas.
While it’s of course important to discuss and understand your past, as it’s your story and often the reason why people behave the way they do, coaches are more focused on helping you move forward, live a better future and fully embrace the NOW.
That doesn’t mean therapy ignores the future or coaching ignores the past but their primary focus and methods differ.
Therapists, on the other hand, are trained to work with psychological issues, trauma and mental health diagnoses.
Coaches work with people who want to improve a certain area of life, such as their career, performance, mindset, leadership, or personal growth. And it’s about removing the blocks that stop them from succeeding in these areas.
If you want to work through parts of your past, then therapy may be for you. That doesn’t mean coaching needs to stop, many coaches have clients that do both.
Therapy helps you understand why you are the way you are.
Coaching helps you become who you want to be next.
Therapy: Working Through the Roots
Therapy is typically led by a licensed mental health professional (therapist, psychologist, counsellor, psychotherapist) who has specialised training in diagnosing and treating emotional or psychological conditions.
You might go to therapy for:
Anxiety or depression
Trauma or grief
Relationship issues
Phobias
Burnout or chronic stress
Emotional dysregulation
The point of therapy is to create a safe space where deeper wounds can be explored and safely processed. It’s not about fixing, it’s about making sense of past experiences so they stop unconsciously affecting your present.
There are many different forms of therapy from CBT and psychodynamic therapy to Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing therapy (EMDR) and Exposure Therapy. The common thread is this: therapy helps people navigate why something feels hard, especially when it feels too difficult to unravel alone.
For example, if you’re caught in a pattern of self-sabotage that’s affecting your ability to function or feel stable, therapy might be the best place to start.
Coaching: Forward Focus and Accountability
Coaching is typically future-focused. A coach isn’t there to diagnose, analyse or explore trauma—they’re there to help you get clear on what you want and build a structure that moves you towards it.
People often work with coaches for:
Mindset work and confidence-building
Decision-making and goal-setting
Performance, focus and motivation
Coaching is less about “what went wrong” and more about “what now?”
It’s a more collaborative process. When most people think of coaching, they imagine regular goal-checking, practical exercises and ongoing accountability. But these are only tools to help get to the core of what we need to transform.
Coaches ask powerful questions to shift your perspective, challenge limiting beliefs and build momentum. They help you see the truth of who you are and recognise the potential that already exists.
While therapy often holds space for emotional healing, coaching leans into activation.
The aim is clarity, calm, direction and taking confident action.
Who Is Coaching For?
You don’t need to hit rock bottom or be facing a crisis to benefit from a coach.
In fact, most people who seek coaching aren’t in crisis, they’re in transition. They’re feeling stuck, struggling with self-doubt or just ready for something more.
Coaching is for people who want to feel more fulfilled. Who are ready to move forward, but aren’t sure how. People who want guidance, structure, and clarity.
People struggling with self-doubt, lack of confidence or direction.
It’s for the professional seeking career development.
The business owner or entrepreneur carrying the weight of it all.
People struggling to balance their professional and personal lives.
Individuals in career transition or unsure about their next move.
The creative with ideas but no direction.
The leader who’s outwardly successful, but inwardly flat.
Anyone seeking personal growth and development.
Coaching helps you reconnect with what actually matters. It offers a mirror, a map, and a method to help you move from where you are to where you want to be.
If you’re navigating change, feeling burnt out, losing momentum or just sensing there’s something more available to you, coaching can help you find your way back to clarity.
It’s not about quick fixes. It’s about meaningful shifts.
Step by step, thought by thought, action by action. Until what felt heavy begins to feel possible again.
Coaching vs Therapy: Is There An Overlap?
The line between therapy and coaching isn’t always crystal clear.
While different, both approaches work with mindset, behaviour and self-awareness. And a good coach will often be trauma-informed, even if they don’t process trauma directly.
Likewise, many therapists now integrate coaching-style tools into their sessions, particularly with high-functioning clients who are ready to move forward.
So it’s less about “therapy or coaching” and more about what do you need right now?
If you’re experiencing emotional overwhelm, persistent low mood, or unresolved trauma, therapy may be the better route.
If you’re looking to make positive changes, unlock potential, realign a specific area of life and live purposefully then coaching can provide the structure and momentum you need.
You can also work with both. Many people do.
Therapy for deeper emotional work.
Coaching for vision and as a proactive step toward growth and self-improvement.
Coaching vs Therapy: Different Tools, Same Goal
Both therapy and coaching are about helping people get unstuck.
One explores the roots, the other builds the branches. One helps you understand your patterns, the other helps you reshape them.
Whatever path you take, the aim is the same: to feel more aligned, more capable, more connected to who you are and what matters most.
It’s not about fixing. It’s about remembering where you already are and having the right kind of support to move forward with purpose and clarity.
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