Therapy vs. Coaching:
I’ve been in therapy for most of my adult life, and I can honestly say: it’s been one of the greatest gifts I’ve ever given myself. Therapy helped me unpack trauma, deepen my self-awareness, and understand the why behind so many of my patterns. It gave me a space to be witnessed, held, and understood—and there’s so much healing in that.
But a few years ago, I hit a wall. Not a crisis, exactly—more like a whisper in my gut saying: okay, I know where this comes from… now what? That’s when I found coaching. And it changed everything.
Where therapy helped me look inward, coaching helped me move forward.
I remember one particular session with a master coach that honestly blew my mind. He guided me through an exercise to externalize my inner critic—something I’d talked about endlessly in therapy, but never quite been able to see. And in that moment, she showed up. Clear as day.
She was a gothic Barbie doll named Persephone. Sixteen years old, too cool for school, smoking a cigarette and judging everything I did. I could feel her in the room with me—this icy, eye-rolling version of myself that had been calling the shots behind the scenes for years.
In therapy, I had explored the roots of that voice. But in coaching, I met her. And because I met her, I could change the relationship. I could talk back. I could laugh at her. I could see her as a character—not a truth.
That’s the power of coaching. It’s creative. It’s action-oriented. It’s about shifting perspective and actually doing something with all that insight. There’s a call to action—a real call to change. And for me, that’s what took my growth to the next level.
Here’s how I see the difference:
Therapy helps you heal the past.
Coaching helps you create your future.
Therapy is the deep dive. Coaching is the forward launch.
Therapy is about understanding. Coaching is about action.
Therapy says, let’s sit with this. Coaching says, what do you want to do about it?
And the truth is, many of us need both. I did. I still do. But if you’ve done the work in therapy and feel like you’re still circling the same blocks, coaching might be the bridge you’re looking for.
Because sometimes, the insight is already there—you just need a guide to help you move.
