Coaching vs. Therapy vs. Mentor vs. Consultant: Which Is Right For You?

Introduction:

If you've landed on this page, you're likely at a pivotal point in your life's journey, seeking to enhance your life, boost your happiness, and elevate your overall well-being. With that in mind, I would firstly like to say congratulations to you; it takes immense courage and determination to recognize the need for change and to take the first steps toward growth! Your commitment to investing time and energy into becoming the best version of yourself is truly admirable, and I'm genuinely inspired by your dedication to taking action in your own best interest. You deserve a life you love, and I am so glad you are taking action to support that!

While the road to personal development and change may be challenging, it's a journey worth embarking on. The challenge of transformation is far better than the hardships of remaining stagnant in an unhappy situation. I wholeheartedly believe in your potential and am confident that staying the course will bring about rewards to make your journey worth the effort! 

Secondly, I’d like to acknowledge that you are here, reading this, because you are wondering who can best support you on your personal development journey you feel ready to embark on; should you hire a coach, therapist, mentor or consultant? That is an excellent question, and my aim in this article is to help you understand what each of these professionals does so that you can determine which of these guiding roles aligns best with your needs and goals. With this information, I hope to help you feel empowered to make an informed decision that will propel you toward a brighter, more fulfilling future.

Part 1: Coaching vs. Therapy

Perhaps at the moment you are asking yourself "should I hire a coach or a therapist?" If so, this section is for you!

Deciding between working with a coach or a therapist is a significant step in your journey toward self-improvement and increased life satisfaction. As a certified professional coach, I understand the confusion surrounding the distinction between therapy and coaching. In this section, I'll provide guidance to help you determine which of those two options is best suited to your needs.

Is therapy right for you? Let's begin by examining therapy.

• Therapist's Role: Therapists diagnose, treat, and manage mental health disorders and illnesses.
• Schooling/Degree: Therapists typically hold a master's or doctoral degree in psychology, counseling, social work, or a related field, along with state licensure or certification.
• Goal of Therapy: Therapy aims to move patients from dysfunctional to functional states, promoting healing and growth.
• When to See a Therapist: Seek therapy for issues such as anxiety disorders (panic disorders, OCD, general anxiety, phobias, PTSD, etc), depression, mental illnesses, trauma, addictions, suicidal thoughts, self-harming thoughts or behaviors, and other deep-seated emotional challenges.
• Therapy Process: Therapy sessions often involve delving into the past to understand and heal underlying issues, so that you can live in a more peaceful present. 
• Session Formats: Formats vary based on the client's needs and therapeutic approach.
• Overall Idea: Therapy can take you out of a bad place and move you to safer, stabler grounds. 

Is coaching right for you? Now, let's explore coaching.

• Coach's Role: Coaches serve as guides, allies, and accountability partners to help clients improve their overall life satisfaction and set and attain goals. 
• Schooling/Degree: While formal schooling is not required, many coaches undergo training and certification through accredited coaching programs. The International Coaching Federation sets standards, and it’s best to work with a coach who has earned a certificate through an ICF accredited program.
• Goal of Coaching: Coaching aims to move clients from functional to optimal states, unlocking their potential and facilitating personal and professional growth, and supporting clients as they set and attain goals.
• When to See a Coach: Consider coaching for issues such as enhancing life satisfaction, building confidence, unlocking potential, improving productivity, reaching goals, increasing self-love and self-esteem, adjusting during transitions, and overcoming obstacles. 
• Coaching Process: Coaching focuses on the present (identifying and changing current patterns, thoughts, behaviors, and circumstances) to build a fulfilling and passionate future. Coaching is very much a forward-driven process. 
• Session formats: Sessions are driven by the client's goals (usually a coach asks a client what they most want to work on during a session) and are typically collaborative in nature. Usually, coaching is done in a 1-1 session, once a week, but each coach offers his/her own packaging and structure. 
• Overall Idea: Coaches take you from “fine” and “tolerable” to “great” and “awesome.” Coaching helps you unlock your potential and empower you to live life to its fullest. 

Side by Side Comparison Chart of Coaching vs. Therapy

Below, you will see a chart comparing coaching and therapy. It summarizes a lot of what was written above, but also includes some additional information. 

Similarities Between Coaching and Therapy:

Both therapists and coaches:

• Help you improve your life satisfaction and overall well being. 
• Allow you a space to have your thoughts, feelings, and experiences expressed, acknowledged, and validated. 
• Provide techniques, practices, and exercises so that you can have the tools to cope and/or improve yourself and your life.
• Provide a safe space to be seen, heard, and healed, and to develop self awareness and healthier practices.
• Do not provide advice or tell you the “right” thing to do. Instead, they both guide you in uncovering the answers within and facilitate your own growth, offering awareness of insights, alternative perspectives, strategies and techniques to help yourself. 
• Provide support; life can be challenging, and coaches and therapists are there for you to turn to and lean on; you do not need to go at it alone! 

Grey Areas/ Overlaps Between Coaching and Therapy

I hope the above helped clear things up for you if you’re deciding between working with a coach or a therapist. However, I would like to acknowledge that mental health is a spectrum, and sometimes it can be challenging to know whether a therapist or a coach is right for you. 

For example, while “depression” and “anxiety” are challenges better suited for a therapist, many coaches very effectively work with people who are not fully dysfunctional, but have anxious and depressive tendencies; these are people who are not functioning at their highest, but who do not stay in bed all day nor want to harm themselves. It's also worth mentioning that coaches do not diagnose mental illnesses and will refer you to a therapist if they think you need that support. 

If you feel unsure whether you would be better suited with a coach or a therapist, it never hurts to reach out to both, to tell them where you're at and the type of help you're looking for, and allow them to tell you if they think you're a good fit for the type of work they do. Coaches and therapists typically like to work with people they can help, and they would not want to waste their time or yours if they don’t feel they can help you. These days, with social media, many people have a chance to explore the work of a coach or therapist in depth before reaching out to them; if the things you see on their instagram page resonate with you, they likely can help you! And if you'd like to visit my work on Instagram, you can do so by clicking here.

Coaching and Therapy Specialists

Many coaches and therapists have specialties; areas that they feel they’re really passionate about, and effective at helping people work through challenges in that area and improve their lives. If you are able to identify what area of your life can most use a helping hand, you might want to find a coach or therapist who specializes in that area.

For example, I am a life-coach, and my specialties are self-love and authenticity. As most life coaches, I help clients set and attain goals, but what sets me apart is that I always making sure their growth is coming from a place of love and not loathing, understanding and not criticism, and that their pursuits are in alignment with their truest selves.

Additionally, for some people, their goal might simply be "I want to love myself more," or "I want to stop worrying about what other people think of me and live my life my way!" For those people, I would definitely be the right coach, since their desires align with my specialty. 

Conclusion for Coaching vs. Therapy:

Whether you choose therapy or coaching depends on your specific needs and goals. Both offer valuable support and guidance, with therapy addressing mental health concerns and coaching focusing on personal and professional development and increasing life satisfaction. In the next section, we'll explore mentoring and consulting to further aid you in finding the right path for your journey.

Mentoring (and how it differs from coaching and therapy)

A mentor is someone who has reached success, and now shares with mentees how to do exactly what she or he has done. A mentor is a role model who has “been there and done that” and can therefore “show you the ropes.” 

Coaches and therapists typically do not use their personal experiences as a model of success for the client. Coaches believe the client is the expert on her own life, and guide the client to gain clarity and awareness of her thoughts and actions, and make changes to the ones that hold her back from reaching her potential. A coach is an expert on coaching- meaning, on helping people break limiting beliefs and access their own power- but not necessarily on a particular topic (though as I mentioned, some coaches have specialties in areas for which they feel extra passionate and effective in creating transformation).

You might be reading this and thinking, "wait, I know of many coaches on social media who tell people exactly what to do in order to achieve success in one particular area, and often then use their own experiences as proof that the process works." That is because the word "coach" is not regulated, and anyone can call themselves a coach if they'd like to. Those people you are thinking of are self-proclaimed coaches, and should really be labeled as mentors or consultants. 

Consulting (and how it differs from mentoring and coaching)

Consultants are similar to mentors in that they have an agenda and answers with regard to one particular field, but unlike mentors, their answers are not necessarily based on their own experiences. For example, a business consultant is somebody who likely studied business and knows how to grow businesses, and they help their clients do just that. Consultants are experts in a particular field. 

Coaches differ from consultants in that they do not have an agenda of their own, rather their goal is to help the clients figure out and attain what they want, by guiding them as they work through blocks. While coaches have specializations in certain fields, their expertise is in the coaching process and in helping the client uncover their own wants and most effective method for getting it. In coaching, the client is empowered to be the expert on her own life. At times, a coach may offer ideas or guidance, but it is done as a partnership rather than as a “this is the one and only method” approach. 

Just like with mentorship, there are many consultants who call themselves coaches, and thus confuse people about the role of a coach. 

Overview and Conclusion:

I hope this article helped clear things up for you about the different roles of coaches, therapists, mentors, and consultants! None of them is any better or worse than the other; it is just a matter of finding the one that best fits your needs!

Heres a quick overview:

Therapy: Takes a client from dysfunctional to functional. Therapists dive into the past to help clients heal and feel more peaceful in the present. Therapy will bring you from an unstable place to safer grounds. 

Coaching: Takes a client from functional to optimal. Coaches look at the present (what is and isn’t working optimally) to build a beautiful and fulfilling future. Coaches do not have their own agenda, but rather collaborate with the client to set and achieve their own goals. (For more details on the tools used and how this is done, read the article Eight Key Ingredients to Transform Your Life.)

Mentoring: A mentor is someone who has "been there done that," and can now show you how she succeeded so that you can learn from her experiences and succeed in the same way.

Consulting: A consultant is expert in one area, and will guide you in doing xyz to reach your goal in that one area. 

Next steps 

If after reading this article you think a coach might be the best guide to support you, I’d love to help you set and attain goals and improve your life satisfaction! You can find all of my information on my offerings by clicking here, and feel free to reach out to me here with any questions at [email protected]. I look forward to connecting with you soon!