What’s the Difference Between Coaching and Therapy?
It’s totally normal to feel a little unsure about the difference between coaching and therapy. While both offer meaningful support, they’re actually quite different in how they approach personal growth and healing.
Therapy focuses more on healing and understanding. It often involves exploring your past—looking at experiences, emotional wounds, mental health concerns, and patterns that might be affecting your present. Therapists are licensed professionals trained to diagnose and treat mental health conditions, and they provide a safe, reflective space to process and heal. Therapy helps you deepen self-awareness, develop coping tools, process trauma, and move toward emotional balance and well-being.
Coaching, on the other hand, is focused on forward momentum. It’s about where you are now and where you want to go. As a coach, I support clients in setting meaningful goals, building confidence, navigating life transitions, and making intentional decisions. We don’t dwell in the past—instead, we work together to get clear on what you want and take steady, aligned action toward it. Coaching is often energizing, collaborative, and designed to help you feel empowered and in motion.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the differences:
You also can absolutely do both.
Therapy and coaching serve different—but often complementary—purposes. Therapy can help you heal, while coaching can help you grow. Together, they can offer a holistic approach to your well-being.