5.3 Assignment. Differentiate Life Coaching from Therapy
Getting Started
As you may well be aware, stereotypes and misinformation abound about both therapy and life coaching. And because life coaching is a newer field and profession than psychotherapy, many people have only a vague idea of what life coaching consists of. Also, some people who don’t have relevant credentials or training call themselves life coaches, leading to some negative impressions among others about life coaching—that it is not a credible profession.
You will likely come across people who hold such stereotypes or negative attitudes toward life coaching and you need to be able to carefully and appropriately explain the differences between the two professions to them, as well as help them understand why life coaching is a credible profession.
Upon successful completion of this assignment, you will be able to:
• Differentiate life coaching from therapy.
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Background Information
For this assignment, you will become well-versed in understanding and explaining to the layperson the differences between life coaching and therapy. What are the major differences between these professions, in your view? Why? What are the major aspects you would want clients or the general population to know about the differences? How might you convince a skeptic that life coaching is a credible profession?
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Instructions
1. Review these websites:
a. International Coaching Federation: What is Coaching? and What Coaching is NOT(new tab)
b. Positive Psychology Program: Positive Psychology Coaching and Life Coaching: How Do They Differ(new tab)?
c. Positive Psychology in Practice: Using Positive Psychology in Coaching(new tab)
2. Google “Coaching versus Therapy.”
3. Write a minimum two-page, APA 7th Edition -formatted paper addressing the following:
a. Assume you are a life coach. Create a scenario describing who your client is—individual, family, system, or organization. Describe how you would explain the difference between therapy and life coaching to that client, using research to support what you would say or write. Apply specifics to your scenario.
b. In your explanation, focus on the major differences between life coaching and therapy: the process, the relationship, and the credentials/certification held by the professional. Write about all these things and other relevant information in detail.
c. Be sure to articulate the important differences between professional therapy and life coaching in language that a layperson would understand.