Coaching vs. Therapy

Differences

Therapy is primarily based in curing human dysfunction. It has a strong medical and psychiatric leaning and if therapists are not medically trained, then their focus is likely to be on debilitating dysfunction whereby the patient is suffering from named conditions.

Coaching, on the other hand, deals with people who are largely functional and successful in their worlds, yet are not achieving as much as they can, due to internal limitations and inability to cope with particular environmental and interpersonal situations.

Coaching thus seeks to 'use what works' to help the person adapt to their everyday situations. Therapy goes deeper, digging into the person's past and otherwise pulling powerful levers and exposing trauma and dark difficulties.

Despite the differences, therapists, with their deep understanding, can make good coaches, provided they can understand the business context and apply their skills appropriately and carefully.

Summary

Below is a summary of some of the key differences between coaching and therapy.

Topic	Coaching	Therapy
Goal	Adaptation	Cure
Time focus	Future	Past
Data	360 degrees	Client only
Dynamic	Active	Passive
Focus	Development	Dysfunction
Zone of concern	Personal and environmental	Internal only
Location	At work	In therapist's office
Social complexity	High	Low
Ultimate customer	Organization	Client

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Coaching vs. Therapy

Differences

Summary

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