[00:00:00] Hello, my friend, welcome to episode 10 therapy versus coaching. As you've probably been able to tell I'm really passionate about both practices. I've also been through both therapy and coaching, and I've been trained professionally to know when it's appropriate. By the end of this episode, you will be able to articulate the difference between the two and know what is the best fit for you.
[00:00:25] Right now it's springā€”and I love spring. The trees outside are starting to just bud all of these beautiful bright green leaves. The smell is fresher, the rain that comes with spring makes everything feel just clean and new, and I love that feeling. I also have a love, hate relationship with spring sports.
[00:00:51] I have four boys and we have been all over the place with soccer and football hall and hockey. We are definitely in it right now. One of my favorite parts of being a mom of boys is I get a watch different coaches, coach different teams. Now you have to remember that my boys are still pretty young, so the coaching is a little bit more gracious and flexible at this point, but it's fascinating to me to see how the players respond to the different types of coaching.
[00:01:20] I want you to think for a second about why they have a coach. Why do the kids need a coach to help them on their teams?
[00:01:29] Maybe it's because a coach can see things that they can't see while they're on the field. A coach might also have training to know things that they haven't been taught before. A coach can also help them focus on improving and working with the people around them to get to places they couldn't have done as easily by themselves.
[00:01:48] However, a coach is not always the appropriate person to help. If an athlete gets hurt on the field, a coach isn't necessarily trained to know what to do. That's why they have athletic trainers or physical therapists that help work individually with the athlete to know if something has seriously gone wrong and whether they have healed enough to move forward and play the game again.
[00:02:13] I find this analogy to be really helpful when I talk to people about therapy versus coaching a therapist is there for when you have an injury, when you've been traumatized, when you're struggling with addiction, when there's a mental or emotional illness that needs clinical help, they are trained to specifically diagnose things that are wrong and help you know how to heal and come back to a functioning basically.
[00:02:41] Many people seek out help from therapists when they feel like they just can't function day to day, when they feel overwhelmed, like something is just so heavy and they don't know how to process it. There are some beautiful tools that can help you heal just like an athlete can heal from an injury that they've experienced.
[00:03:00] Also similar to a physical therapist, both will ask you what your history is, what things may have influenced your vulnerability in the injury you currently have, what they need to be aware of so they can better help you heal and gain full functioning again. This often provides more of a past focused on where you've been leading up to where you are now.
[00:03:24] I am so grateful for professionals who are trained both in sports and in everyday life to help us heal when we are injured. I have personally been blessed by their support.
[00:03:38] I also know that staying in a hospital when you don't need that help can be very expensive. Continuing to go back to physical therapy when you no longer have an injury, doesn't make a whole lot of sense. There are things that you can learn from that office to continue to strengthen any weaknesses that that injury might have caused, but there's a natural point when continuing to see a therapist (whether a physical therapist or emotional therapist) doesn't make as much sense anymore. There's a natural point or you want to go play on the field. You want to move forward and remember what it's like to use your skills and your talents to learn and grow and maybe work together with a team again. It might look a lot different than it did before your injury, but you can always find a new game. That's where coaching comes into play. A coach can help you see where your strengths are now and how you can rebuild your skills and help you know how to thrive in new and amazing ways.
[00:04:44] Just like the coach on a field, a life coach can help you with any goals that you have, any specific skills you want strengthened. Maybe you're struggling with following through with your commitments to yourself. Maybe it's a relationship you want to work on with one of your loved ones or the relationship with yourself. It could be that you want to stop yelling at your kids or that dream job that you've always wanted to create, but you're having a hard time having encouraged to move forward.
[00:05:13] It could even be that you've been going to therapy or support groups for years and you don't quite feel like you belong anymore because you're not currently in trauma and you have found a lot of healing, but you're just not quite sure how to take the next step into a new life. If you're seeking that forward, focus that momentum and competence rebuilding your life from the inside out, that is a powerful phase for a life coach.
[00:05:44] Contrary to what some people say, coaching and therapy are not at odds with each other. I know many people who are in therapy and also have a life coach because there are different tools and different approaches that can help you in both practices.
[00:06:02] There's also a lot of overlap with what you learn in therapy and what you learned from a life coach. It doesn't mean that you never look at your past, if you're working with a life coach and it also doesn't mean that you don't work on goals while you're in therapy. The main focus is just different.
[00:06:19] Let's say you're a swimmer. The physical therapist is going to make sure that the movement and the motion of the ankle is strong enough to help you move forward with the different strokes and the different movements through the water. But if I'm a physical therapist of someone who is a baseball player, that ankle is going to need to have the impact of running around the bases and be able to hold that with stability. So the physical therapist is mindful of the future and of the goals, but their main focus is the injury.
[00:06:52] The coach is also going to know and be aware of past injuries and diagnoses that a player might have. This does not mean if somebody is diagnosed with depression or any mental illness or PTSD that they can't work with a coach. That just means that the coach can be aware of it as they make goals and move forward, embracing their best selves in a way that's mindful of that past, but not defined by it. Their focus is forward.
[00:07:22] People also often get stuck in the one_ "best_ _way_" of doing this, that you should go to therapy for a certain amount of time and you should have a support group that you continually attend and that you have a coach who goes in and out of your life at the times when you need it.
[00:07:37] Although that might be the journey for some people, my experience has been that everyone's journey is right for them. Only you can know what would be best for you. That is why it's so important to remember the light from within. God gave you that light to help guide you to know what would be best for you. If you bring that in and you listen as you are making decisions on what to do next, you will have personalized guidance that you can't find anywhere else.
[00:08:09] *So here's today's TLC:* _where are you on your journey_*_ _*_and how can you move forward?_
[00:08:18] Do you feel injured, hurt, traumatized heavy in a way that makes it hard for you to function day to day? It's okay. Telling your story is a beautiful thing. There were so many therapists that can help you with that. If that's your phase, take that small step forward, go to a therapist and find support; healing; stability.
[00:08:45] Maybe that's not you. Maybe you've been there in the past, but now you feel hungry for the next phase forward. You have ups and downs where you feel motivated and then you feel depleted because you didn't quite follow through you feel like you just need a little extra help to tap into the beautiful light within you and create the life that you deserve to live. If so you might be ready for a life coach, maybe even a light coach.
[00:09:16] _No matter whether you need support from a therapist or a coach, you don't have to play this game of life alone. _
[00:09:24] You can totally choose to... I've been there where that was, where I was at. I needed to figure some things out by myself, but my challenge for you: prayerfully consider what you are feeling pulled to today.
[00:09:39] *Where are you on your journey and how can you move forward?*
[00:09:45] Thank you for listening, my friends. Wherever you are on your journey, I believe in you. I know there is healing and there is so much fun as you move forward and you thrive. Life is amazing and you were not here alone. God has put us on this earth all at the same time and we are on the same team. Don't journey alone, tap into that light within you and it will tell you what you need to be able to journey forward with confidence.
[00:10:22] if you want to learn more about how to think light, feel light and live light, then hop on my website, www.thelightcoach.com to schedule a free intro session and explore what's possible for you. That's www.theL-I-G-H-Tcoach.com. I promise you it'll be an adventure that you will never forget.
