Is Life Coaching therapy? Is therapy actually Life Coaching?
To adapt an old joke: What is the difference between a Life Coach and a therapist?
Answer: About 20 pounds an hour.
This is a debate that occasionally heats up between coaches and therapists, but do clients really care? If they can get their problems sorted and move on, clients generally aren’t too bothered.
So for example a therapist has a client who is lacking self belief, is stuck and can’t move on. The therapist examines their internal logic, helps them reframe it and shows them that they do in fact have the potential to do anything they want to.
Then the therapist asks them ‘What do you LOVE doing?’ This is the critical point, because at this point, a client can realise that a hobby can become a job, or that a part of their job they really love can become all of their job, provided they are prepared to undertake extra training, move jobs and so on.
All therapies can quite easily cope with this type of client, but when you think about it, this example is pure life coaching too.
Perhaps it’s down to location. The perception is that to see a therapist you have to go to a room, sit down and talk, the therapist listens and makes notes, you have a discussion and then away you go. Life coaches can see you anywhere. You can meet them for coffee, lunch, a walk in the park, anywhere. And talk about what ails you.
Hang on though, isn’t that just therapy? A good therapist, one not constrained by the ridiculous restrictions of central bodies who have a huge list of things therapists can’t do- a good therapist will recognise and seize the moment to undertake therapy anywhere that it is going to be helpful.
And we haven’t even talked about business coaches yet…
So maybe the difference is £20 an hour, but which way round is it?
For more information on my therapies, you can go here