Support Services & Roles Explained

So what’s the difference between coaching and therapy?

It can be confusing to figure out what kind of practitioner or support might be right for you. Today we’re going to talk through the way we explain some of the different types of services, partners, and support there is available and clarify what each can provide. This is similar to what we cover at Magical Humans with potential clients when they first reach out.

Coaching

First, let’s talk about what coaching is. Coaching is about looking forward, and seeing where you want to go, and how you want to get there. We often talk about the positive future, what’s possible, and what might be needed to get there. While there may be some reflection on where you’re currently at or a specific experience, the majority of the process is focused on where you want to go or how you want to be, why you want that, and what is needed to make that happen.

In coaching, all of the answers come from the client. We find the experience can be similar to when you talk through something with a trusted friend or family member and find that in talking through it you knew the answer all along. You just needed some help getting there. Coaches are that help and support, in a supercharged way — we ask questions to broaden your thinking, to help you see new perspectives, and to reflect on what is important. Coaches can also notice patterns or repeated behaviors and share those with you, all in service of getting you the information you need to move forward

Session topics can vary, depending on what feels most important for the client. Sometimes this means identifying new skills or capabilities you might need, or it might be clarifying your values and looking at whether your behaviors are aligned with what you value.

Coaches are in true partnership with their clients. The client defines the agenda and determines where to focus throughout the session. Coaches hold space for you and listen deeply, reflecting things back so that you can determine what you want to work on and how you want to do it. You know yourself best, so coaches aim to empower you to connect with and use that internal guidance — what we call your intuition.

Does this sound like what you’re looking for? Stay tuned this month — we’ll be covering how to find the right coach for you using your intuition.

What coaching isn’t:

• Looking at your past and processing what has happened
• Training you in a certain process
• Working toward results defined by someone other than you (the client)
• The coach sharing experiences and what has worked for them in the past
• Following a specific structure to learn something

If coaching isn’t exactly what you’re looking for right now, at this moment, then it may be another service or partnership that will fit your needs. We’ll explore what some of the other options are, but we are not experts on any of these additional approaches. We always encourage you to reach out to practitioners directly to learn more about how they work with clients.

This is how we describe other approaches:

Therapy

The process in therapy tends to be more driven by the therapist and they may move clients through a more defined process. Therapeutic work can also focus on past experiences, and processing those to heal. They are trained to treat different types of health problems and can help people learn to cope.

For some individuals, they may feel resistant to look ahead at how they want to move forward. This would make coaching not the best fit for them, at this time. They may be in a state of disempowerment or have felt angry or anxious for a long time and want to explore that with someone. This is something that a therapist is trained and licensed to provide. They also help with chronic conditions that interfere with life and provide tests or assessments for many things including neuropsychological functioning.

Advising

An advisor is someone who has had experience or training in something similar to what you hope to accomplish or has access to the information you might not have yet. They provide guidance and offer suggestions. They may also learn about your situation and share what they would do in your shoes. The advice is rooted in their view of the world, and how they understand the systems or environment you’re in. They are usually involved in your industry, area of interest, or community.

Typically in this relationship, you’ll find a power dynamic, since one person has more information that the other person wants to access and understand. Advisors typically provide more information to you, so that you can ultimately make your own decision.

An advisor will likely drive the conversations, and share things from their perspective, whereas a coach will keep you in the driver’s seat and focus on how you’re experiencing the world.

Mentoring

Mentors share their experiences. They talk through what they have learned, how they made decisions, and what worked — or didn’t work. Often this is to help the mentee follow in the same or similar successful path, usually in a quicker manner since they have access to the learnings of the mentor.

Mentors can be more directive and are often personally invested in the outcome. Most of the time you don’t pay a fee for a mentor. Instead, it’s a relationship where the mentor is also gaining something by participating in the relationship — common things are experience in supporting another person, or a feeling of fulfillment by helping someone else. However, similar to advising, you’ll typically find a power dynamic since one person is more experienced than the other.

A mentor is there to share their story and learnings with you. A coach on the other hand, is there to listen and hold space for your story and learnings.

Teaching

Individuals generally look for a teacher to learn a particular skill or capability. In teaching, there is usually a model or process that is demonstrated and then the students practice and master that skill or capability. There is an end-state in mind and the teacher works to get everyone there in roughly the same manner.

Since the teacher is guiding the students through lessons and directing them in their learning, the teacher holds more of the power in the relationship.

With a coach, there is no pre-defined solution. Instead, with the support of your coach, you arrive at your own creative answers.

Leading

In general, leading is when someone brings people together and aligns them with an objective. They can go about this in many different ways, especially when you consider both explicit and implicit leadership, but this is how we describe it at a 30,000 ft view. Leaders can be directive if needed, but they don’t necessarily operate in that mode all the time.

With explicit leadership, there is a power dynamic since there is usually status or hierarchy involved giving structure to the relationship.

In coaching there is no directing, you are always in the lead determining what is important and what feels right.

Facilitating

This tends to happen primarily in groups (more than 2 people), where an individual is managing the dynamics between participants. They are often directing and keeping the group focused. They are there to make the process efficient in achieving a specific goal.

When working with a coach one-on-one, you determine if the pace and progress feels right for you.

We hope that these brief overviews clarify what to expect in working with a coach. Coaching is a distinct service from the other services and roles described here. It provides high value to individuals who are looking to move forward with intention, clarify how they want to get there, and work with a true partner.

If you provide one of these services or take on one of these roles, we would love to know: do you have something to add to our definitions? We’re always looking to clarify how we talk about this with potential clients and would love to learn more!