What is the Difference Between Counseling, Therapy, Psychotherapy, and Coaching?
It can be a bit confusing to sort out these terms. First, lets address Counseling vs Therapy vs Psychotherapy. Counseling can be used in a myriad of ways. It can refer to people who do anything from those individuals who look after patients in in-patient settings on up to Licensed Clinical Professional Counselors. On one end there are no educational requirements and on the other, not only is a Master’s degree required, but in most states there are also thousands of hours of supervised training and ongoing annual training as well to maintain that license.
A Therapist can be a physical therapist, nutritional, or psychotherapist. A psychotherapist however, is the one term of these three that indicates that the professional is working with helping the client to improve their mental health. For the sake of this website, these terms are all used to indicate a licensed psychotherapist.
So what is a coach and what is the difference between a coach and a psychotherapist? First, we’ll sort out legalities. A psychotherapist is a health care practitioner.
They are able to take insurance for services that are covered by insurance (although they don’t have to).
They must comply with HIPAA, meaning that they have standards of confidentiality they uphold.
They must have a graduate level education.
They must be licensed by the state.
Their counseling practice is confined to the state or states they are licensed in.
Depending on the state they are licensed in, they have thousands of hours of supervised training.
Depending on the state they are licensed in, they have required annual continuing education.
They must pass a state and/or national exam to hold a license.
They may or may not have extra certifications.
They may or may not be able to request testimonials from their patients or clients.
They have strict guidelines regarding relationships with their clients.
Now let’s look at the legalities of coaching.
A coach may or may not have a certificate of training.
There is no licensing board so there is no license required.
They are not healthcare practitioners.
They cannot take health insurance.
They have no education required and many work from personal experience.
They can coach anyone, anywhere.
They cannot work with individuals that have a mental health diagnosis to help them to resolve that diagnosis (but they can work with them on other things.)
Coaching is completely unregulated by governmental authorities.
When we leave the legal arena and look at what these two professions do, this gets quite a bit more confusing. Many people say that therapists explore the past and coaches help clients from where they are to create a better future. In my experience and practice, this is an oversimplification at best and untrue at worst. Many coaches have a program their clients are guided through. But some counselors have different programs for their clients as well. There are both exceptional coaches and exceptional therapists. Coaches have more flexibility and freedom in their practices which can definitely help clients in creative ways.
While there are tens of thousands of coaches in the country, there are some therapists that are now using their extensive training and skills to coach clients. This allows them to work outside their state boundaries, and help those individuals that want help, but don’t necessarily meet diagnostic criteria. I believe that anyone who wants coaching or counseling should be able to access it. Most people go to their primary care physician to stay well and healthy. Coaching from a professionally trained counselor can not only do that, but can help you “get unstuck” create and achieve goals, work toward financial independence, improve relationships, enjoy better life balance, and create the outstanding life you dream of.
Solutions hires only Psychotherapists or Psychotherapy Interns (intern meaning that they have their Master’s Degree and are working on their supervised training for licensure). We also very much embrace coaching models in our work. This means that any of our therapists can counsel or coach. As we are licensed in Montana, if you are outside the state of Montana, we are happy to offer coaching, not counseling.
