The Difference Between a Health Coach and a Therapist
If you’ve ever considered working with a health coach but weren’t sure how it differs from therapy, you’re not alone. While both offer support for your well-being, they serve different roles in helping you move forward.
A therapist is trained to help you navigate your past and present experiences, often working through trauma, mental health diagnoses, and emotional healing. Therapy provides a safe space to process difficult emotions, understand behavioral patterns, and develop coping strategies to support mental health.
A health coach, on the other hand, focuses on the present and future. Coaching is about behavior change—helping you identify your values, strengths, and motivations to create sustainable lifestyle shifts that align with your well-being goals. Health coaches don’t diagnose or treat mental illness, but they do provide guidance, accountability, and a structured process for achieving what’s most important to you.
A Simple Example: Therapy vs. Health Coaching
Imagine you’ve been working with a therapist to explore your past and recognize how childhood experiences shaped your sense of self. Through this inner work, you’ve discovered that dance has always been a source of joy and creativity for you. But despite this realization, you struggle to make space for it in your daily life.
This is where health coaching can help. A coach would work with you to clarify your motivation, explore what’s getting in the way, and create small, meaningful steps to bring dance back into your life in a way that feels natural and sustainable. Rather than focusing on processing the past, coaching is about empowering you to take action in the present.
Can Coaching and Therapy Work Together?
Absolutely. Many people find that coaching complements therapy beautifully. I’ve found that clients who have worked with a therapist come ready to do the hard work of transforming what they’ve uncovered in therapy into healthy lifestyle changes. While therapy helps you heal and gain deeper self-awareness in an open-ended container, coaching supports you in building confidence, developing habits, and taking practical steps toward the life you want.
If you’re wondering whether coaching is right for you, ask yourself:
Do I need support in processing trauma or deep emotional challenges? → A therapist may be the best fit.
Do I feel ready to take action but need guidance, structure, and accountability? → A health coach may be exactly what you need.
Wherever you are on your journey, you don’t have to do it alone. Coaching and therapy are both valuable tools for growth and well-being, and it’s just about finding what’s right for you in this moment. You may find that you’d like to work with a therapist, then a coach, then back to a therapist, or even combine the two - your healing and self development journey will be completely unique to you!
Interested in learning more about health coaching? Let’s Connect.
