About Lifestyle by Design Life Coaching

There are significant differences between the objectives of a life coach vs. therapists, as well as between the focus of their sessions with clients. A therapist focuses on clients’ feelings and thought patterns. Therapy can enable clients to develop a greater understanding of how their past experiences and thought patterns influence their behaviors and emotions.

When comparing coaching vs. therapy, a therapist focuses on the reasons for a client’s behaviors and thought patterns, a life coach focuses on how their clients can overcome current problems. Life coaching may explore past experiences and emotional trauma to a limited extent. However, it will largely focus on how clients can change their current behaviors in order to build the lives they want for themselves.

It is also worth emphasizing that a mental health therapist is trained to diagnose and treat mental health disorders. In order to provide a diagnosis, mental health therapists must be cognizant of state licensure requirements to independently carry out this responsibility. These professionals frequently work with individuals dealing with depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, eating disorders and similar challenges. While mental health therapists lack the authority to prescribe medications as psychiatrists do, they do provide mental health treatments, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy.

A key difference between a therapist and a life coach is that a life coach cannot diagnose a mental health disorder. However, a life coach who believes that a client may be struggling with mental health issues can refer that person to a mental health therapist. A client may undergo both life coaching and therapy simultaneously for optimal results.

Therapists often focus on their clients’ pasts. They explore issues such as how childhood trauma affects a patient’s current mental health. A therapist helps clients to understand and process the problems in their pasts and learn how to heal from them in order to create a healthier present. Mental health therapist work to help clients move past mental and behavioral health struggles, which may be rooted in the past even as they affect the present. Therapists can teach coping strategies and positive thought and behavioral patterns.

By contrast, life coaches do not typically encourage clients to explore the past. They focus on identifying what clients can do in the present in order to reach their goals. This is a future-oriented form of coaching that emphasizes progressing toward objectives.

A similarity between coaching vs. therapy is that life coaching is intended to help and empower people. However, it achieves this goal in a different way. This difference is evident right from the first session.

Because life coaches are not healthcare professionals, clients are not usually asked about their health history unless their stated goal is to lose weight. However, they may be asked to fill out one or more questionnaires that request information about their background, aspirations and challenges. The life coach and client spend a little time getting to know each other.

Clients can expect to be asked questions about their current life situation and the direction they would like their life to go. For instance, many clients go to life coaches when they find themselves stuck or dissatisfied with their job or career path. Life coaches help clients identify their professional goals and develop strategies for reaching them.

Clients may have difficulties with issues such as time management, motivation, productivity or work-life balance. Just as a mental health therapist can help clients develop coping skills for issues like anxiety, life coaching can help clients develop strategies and self-improvement skills for overcoming the obstacles preventing them from achieving their goals.