There are many different types of counseling that most counseling centers in McKinney offer to their clients. Two of the major categories are life coaching and therapy, and often, people confuse the two. Here’s a guide to help you decide which kind is the most effective for you:
Life Coaching
Life coaching is all about positivity: defining goals, advancing those goals, identifying hurdles in your path and conquering them. Whether it’s in your professional or personal life or both, a coach works with you to provide support and directions to where you want to thrive. At each session, the client decides the focus and direction of the conversation, while the coach interjects with reflections and prompts. This allows the client a clear course to: establish confidence and control, evaluate progress and achieve goals.
Therapy
When meeting with a therapist, a client tends to concentrate on emotional problems in their life and works to find a safe and effective way to solve those issues. This starts from the first session, which sets the parameters of the client-therapist relationship. Focusing on your thoughts, therapy helps incorporate new ideas, thereby moving on from emotional disorders and transforming behaviors. By working through unresolved feelings and actions, you can create a better understanding of yourself and others.
Similarities and Differences
Similarities – Both life coaching and therapy work with the client to:
- identify strengths and weaknesses,
- develop goals,
- and strive towards achieving those objectives.
Differences – While they are similar, life coaching and therapy differ in a few key areas:
| Life Coaching | Therapy |
| Emphasizes the present and future | Emphasizes the present and past |
| Explores how to get results | Explores the roots of unhealthy problems |
| Strives to act | Strives to understand |
| Encourages implementation of future vision | Heals long-standing wounds |
| Delves into goals | Delves into current emotional disorders |
In other words, counseling focuses on the client’s past, attempting to uncover the original sources behind unhealthy behaviors and understanding emotional wants and needs. In contrast, life coaching concentrates on the present and future, setting up holistic goals and going about achieving them.
Finding your Path
The good news is that your local McKinney counseling services offer both life coaching and individual and couples therapy. Our licensed medical professionals are available to help you determine what you need. Come in or contact us today for a preliminary consultation to find the most effective road to healing!
About New Horizons
New Horizons clinic provides individual and relationship counseling, sex therapy, chemical dependency treatment, life coaching and group workshops. It relies on the most reliable medical professionals in the North Dallas area to give excellent customer service to those in need.
