As a professional Mental Health Coach, I’m frequently asked about the difference between Mental Health Coaching and Psychotherapy. Right from the beginning, I want to show some of the similarities: both coaching and therapy look at thought patterns and behavior and seek to optimize them; both utilize research-based methodologies, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, to promote health and wellness; both coaching and therapy address mental health concerns such as depression, anxiety, and other forms of mental distress. So what is the difference? Mental Health Coaching is about taking control of your mental health in the present, and making shifts in your life to decrease symptoms like anxiety and depression, and to modify behavior and thought patterns to enhance your life.
Mental Health Coaching does not seek to dive into your past to heal past trauma. It also does not seek to diagnose or treat mental illness. Rather, Mental Health Coaching gives you the tools to take control of your life through shifting awareness and behavior to change behavioral and thought patterns that may be holding you back in some way. When involved in coaching, a person works with a professional coach one-on-one to set mental health and life goals, and to work through those goals to achievement–and it is all on your terms.
Everyone has mental health, but not everyone needs psychotherapy for a mental health disorder. Mental Health Coaching gives you the opportunity to take charge of your mental health to live the life of fulfillment that you deserve.
Austin English 