Coaching and therapy are among many helping professions.

The International Coach Federation (ICF) defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.” The American Psychological Association (APA) defines psychotherapy as “the informed and intentional application of clinical methods and interpersonal stances derived from established psychological principles for the purpose of assisting people to modify their behaviors, cognitions, emotions, and/or other personal characteristics in directions that the participants deem desirable.”

The main distinctions between coaching and psychotherapy are based on focus, purpose, and population. Coaching focuses on moving into the future from the present state. Therapy emphasizes the past in order to understand the present. The purpose of coaching is frequently about performance improvement, learning, or development while therapy often dives into deep-seated emotional issues to work on personal healing or trauma recovery. Coaching tends to work with well-functioning individuals whereas therapy work tends to be for individuals with some level of dysfunction or disorder. As an analogy, a coach is like an athletic trainer while a therapist is like a medical doctor specializing in sports medicine.

Coaching is distinct from the advice-giving practices of experts, consultants, or mentors in that it supports the client to seek their answers from their own resources. In this way, the client is able to recognize and strengthen their ability to draw upon their own capacity and wisdom to chart the course for themselves, and thus to develop their inner trust in their own resourcefulness. Effectively, they “learn to fish” for themselves.

While consulting approaches vary widely, it is often assumed that the consultant or expert diagnoses problems, then advises and sometimes implements the most effective solutions. These experts typically offer a tested and proven process that is specialized in its application, and is almost always based on the consultant’s particular expertise and experience. As a result, the role of the expert is to help an individual see things from the expert’s frame of reference, knowledge and skills.

A strong distinction between mentoring and coaching is that a mentor has traveled a particular path or developed a level of experience or expertise that enables them to teach others “how to” based on the mentor’s idyllic pathway. Although some coaches include mentoring as part of their coaching process, professional coaches are not typically mentors to those they coach. Instead, they use questions that invite the client to find their own resources and reliable mentors within their own lives versus relying upon the coach for all the answers and suggestions.

My coaching is client centered, whole-person based, and outcome oriented.

Client Centered: Coaching is a collaborative partnership, not a prescriptive process. I believe you are capable, thoughtful, and resourceful. My role is to support you in seeing more possibilities, gaining new perspective, and taking intentional action.

Whole-person Based: Career decisions are shaped by identity, values, relationships, and the systems you operate within. We consider the whole person — intellectual, emotional, embodied, and relational — to explore possibilities that are coherent and sustainable.

Outcome Oriented: Each session moves you toward clarity and progress. You’ll leave with greater clarity, grounded confidence, and next steps you can act on.

Integrity, collaboration, inclusivity, and authenticity are core values in my practice. I am credentialed by the International Coaching Federation (ICF), and I adhere to their established Code of Ethics and professional standards, e.g., maintaining the strictest level of confidentiality, delivering consistent value. You can view the ICF Code of Ethics here: https://coachingfederation.org/ethics/code-of-ethics