Therapy vs. Coaching: What's the difference?
Therapy is about healing your past - it focuses on the “why", while coaching empowers you to take action towards the things that you desire, propelling you forward in life by doing one thing: taking action.
I often get asked about the difference between coaching and therapy. I believe that both modalities are powerful in their own right, but they do serve different outcomes. Allow me to break it down for you…
Therapy is about healing your past - it focuses on the “why" and aspects such as your childhood, mental health, and emotional healing.
On the other hand, coaching is about creating your future - it focuses on the “how," the attainment of your personal goals, and things like living a more balanced life or starting a business. Coaching empowers you to take action towards the things that you desire, propelling you forward in life by doing one thing: taking action.
These are simplified definitions of two powerful disciplines that have a lot more overlap, nuance and layers. I’ve been coached and I have also been in therapy and consider both amazing healing and growth practices.
When deciding between the two, I’ve learned that the question we should be asking ourselves is: “What do you need right now to move you forward in your life?”
One thing that I noticed with almost all of my coaching clients last year was that they sought out coaching vs therapy specifically because they wanted more than just talking about how they felt. They wanted to see a material difference in their lives and move forward with things that they had been stuck with for years…like going back to school, quitting their 9-5 and starting their own business, taking a gap year, going back to the gym, going on a solo trip, starting a new degree. They were ready to create real tangible change in their lives that moved them closer to their dreams.
I believe that true change happens from the inside out, we start with getting clear on what feels good and what matters to us outside of all the ‘shoulds’ and then we translate that into taking powerful action on the outside.
This is what I want to help you with in my coaching program, with the new cohort coming this September. Over the course of 12 weeks, you will be positively challenged to align how you feel on the inside with the actions that you take on the outside so you can move forward toward your next level. One of my favourite modules in the coaching program is a deep dive into this very topic: the Goal Line vs Soul Line. This module is about how we realign your goals and vision from an inside out perspective, that'll help you get unstuck, ditch your insecurities, eliminate all the ‘shoulds' and finally feel good and secure about your unique direction in life and your next right step.
One of my core beliefs as a coach is that you are the expert of you, so only you know the type of support that you need in your life right now. Now that you have more insight into the difference between therapy and coaching, ask yourself what do I need right now to get closer to my next level from here?
If you're ready to get on the court, and learn how to thrive from the inside out while taking action towards your dreams and goals, I invite you to sign up for the September waitlist. If you have questions about the program or how we can work together, feel free to drop me a message on IG to let me know.
Your next level is loading, all you need now is to take action.
To your growth and limitless potential.
Big love,
Ruthie