Understanding the differences between coaching and psychotherapy

When talking about the process of going to a professional who is dedicated to serving people to help them better manage their emotions and/or behavior patterns, it is relatively common to confuse the concepts of "coaching" and "psychotherapy".

However, not knowing how to distinguish between the two goes beyond a simple confusion of technical terms, and can even be harmful and lead to problems, as we will see below. So that, Let's see what are the specific differences between psychotherapy and coaching.

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Learn to distinguish between psychotherapy and coaching

These are the main aspects that will help you to know the difference between psychotherapy and coaching if you consider using this type of service.

1. Psychotherapy can only be offered by psychologists

The first difference, and perhaps the most important, is that the practice of psychotherapy performed by psychotherapists is a regulated practice and can only be offered legally by specialized psychologists and/or other duly accredited health professionals through university training and registration in official entities such as the COP (in Spain). In contrast, coaching in general is not regulated, and almost anyone, with or without training, can offer this type of service, which leads to problems. Now, keep in mind that many psychologists offer both psychotherapy and coaching; In these cases, there is a guarantee that the professional is trained in behavioral science.

So that, training in coaching is much less complex than training as a psychotherapist, given that the latter must have at least a 4 or 5-year Bachelor's degree (depending on the country) and training post-university, while there are coaching training programs open to anyone and lasting only a few few weeks.

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2. Psychotherapy focuses its field of application on mental health

As a general rule, psychotherapists are fundamentally psychologists or specialized doctors, which base most of their work on caring for patients who present some form of discomfort. In many cases, this discomfort takes the form of a diagnosable disorder (and as such is described in the manuals used in Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry, such as DSM-5 or ICD-11), and in other cases they do not become psychopathologies, but they are still a reason to start a therapy process (for example, a couple crisis, extreme shyness, etc.).

On the other hand, coaching is not applied as a form of treatment for psychological disorders, and in fact, if someone offers this type of services to intervene in this class of problems without being accredited in the field of psychotherapy, that is denounceable as a form of labor intrusion. A) Yes, coaching is applied above all to needs that are not considered as a source of discomfort, but rather as needs for personal or professional development: desire to learn leadership skills, interest in learning self-motivation techniques to prepare for oppositions, etc.

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4. Psychotherapy has more specific action protocols

As the psychological intervention offered by psychotherapists is oriented towards mental health problems, this type of procedure is more standardized, seeking to keep track of what is done so that it conforms to strategies and techniques that have been shown to be effective based on research scientific. On the other hand, coaching, if it is understood as a practice carried out by people who do not necessarily have training in psychotherapy, does not have such control criteria the effectiveness of what is done.

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5. Coaching has an important deployment in the field of the company

In practice, a good part of the coaching processes offered to clients have to do with the field of professional performance. Thus, several of the main branches of coaching are executive coaching, focused on helping medium profiles and companies (CEOs, Department Directors, etc.) by boosting their communication skills and leadership; sports coaching, offered to professional or semi-professional athletes; or team coaching, which is applied to departments or groups that usually work hand in hand on a daily basis. day, to help them communicate better with each other, to resolve conflicts before they escalate, to motivate themselves, etc.

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Are you looking for psychotherapy services or assistance through coaching?

If you are interested in starting a process of psychological therapy or coaching, get in touch with us.

In Advance Psychologists We have a team of accredited mental health professionals and psychologists who work in the areas of psychotherapy, sexology, neuropsychology, psychiatry and coaching. We offer you our more than 20 years of experience in the sector and the most effective techniques and strategies according to your problems or needs.