KM LCSW SERVICES LLC
Life Coaching

What is life coaching?

WHAT IS LIFE COACHING & HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM PSYCHOTHERAPY?

 Life coaches help the clients they work with focus on identifying and moving towards personal and, at times, professional goals. Through focused coaching support, clients can learn healthy and helpful ways of navigating through challenges in creating a life they feel excited about.

Coaching takes the best of those approaches, along with a new type of assistance for clients, such as:

  • Working with the client to help them define their life goals

  • Formulating a plan that will foster and grow the client’s skills and talents

  • Helping the client navigate difficult challenges in reaching their goals

  • Teaching tools and providing materials to assist the client

  • Helping the client with focus and accountability

  • Providing structure, encouragement and support

  • Providing intentional and empathetic listening

IS A LIFE COACH THE SAME AS A THERAPIST?

A therapist works with and counsels a client dealing with emotional challenges, mental illness, trauma, grief and loss, and relationship issues. A therapist often draws on the client’s past history in order to help the client heal. This also improves the quality of the client’s life.

 Additionally, a life coach works actively with the client in order to create solutions and strategies; they believe the client is naturally creative and resourceful. Often times, the coach’s role is to provide support so that the client can further develop their inherent skills, confidence and creativity.

 Similar to therapists, life coaches support their coaching clients via in person or phone session in order to help the client create their best personal and professional life.

In my coaching role, it is important to understand that while I may draw on particular aspects from both disciplines from time-to-time, such as intentional listening, affirming, encouraging, reflecting, and supporting with empathy, I do not work in both roles at the same time with clients. This would be considered operating in a “dual role.” Providing counseling and coaching at the same time is not something that clinical therapists engage in, nor should a life coach without clinical training and licensing provide psychotherapy to coaching clients.