What is Coaching?
You may have come here wondering…so what exactly is coaching? But also, how is it different from, let’s say, therapy? Both great and valid questions. Before working with a coach, it’s extremely important to understand what you can expect from each session and what makes coaching different from other mental health and wellness modalities! It's an amazing thing to know that you are ready for mental health support, but it’s very important to know what kind of support to turn to. Below you can take a look at the differences between each type of mental health professional to help you decide what would be best for YOU.
Psychologist
A psychologist has clinical training to treat mental health issues through talk therapy, psychological evaluations and testing. Psychologists help a wide variety of people and can treat many kinds of behavioral and mental health issues. They can also help with life and relationship issues. Someone may see a psychologist for anxiety or depression issues that are deep rooted, or they may reach out to deal with physical issues around sleep, eating, or chronic pain. There is a wide net of mental health challenges that a psychologist can help with and they will typically use testing or evaluations of some sort to help diagnose the patient with what will help them most successfully.
Life Coach
A coach is someone who partners with a client in a thought-provoking and creative process that will inspire them to reach their personal and professional potential. Coaching helps take a person from the functional version of themselves to the optimal. It is very important that within this partnership between a client and coach, that the coach is helping this person to establish a meaningful outcome in each session whether it be something small or large. A person who might seek out working with a coach is someone who wants to better manage their life, create greater fulfillment and identity and reach their goals for success and whatever that may mean to them. A successful relationship between a coach and their client most often happens through goal setting, actions plans and accountability.
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is someone with a medical degree who focuses on the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mental, emotional and behavioral disorders. If you feel as though medical intervention is necessary then it would be important to work with a psychiatrist in order to help diagnose and treat any multitude of physical mental health issues. Psychiatrists typically have extensive clinical training and often work in tandem with the professionals in these other modalities for a more holistic approach in helping the client.
Psychotherapist
A psychotherapist is a very general term that can encompass a multitude of different types of practitioners. A very important distinction to make, however, is that a psychotherapist does not administer, manage or prescribe medication. Oftentimes a psychotherapist will have a background in family therapy, social work or counseling. The benefits of working with a psychotherapist can be for anyone wanting to work on mental health issues without the use of medication. Common topics or challenges that would lead someone to go to a psychotherapist would be anxiety, grief, trauma and depression just to name a few. These topics can be deep rooted and therefore need a different type of attention than what a coach could provide.
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