What Coaching Is (and Isn't): Understanding the Difference

If you've ever wondered, "Is coaching right for me?" —you're not alone.

It’s a common question I hear, often presented as: “How is coaching different from therapy, consulting, or mentoring?” 

While all of these roles can be incredibly valuable, they each offer something different. Understanding these differences can help you choose the kind of support that fits your current needs and goals.  

Let’s break it down:

What Coaching Is

Coaching is a future-focused, strengths-based partnership that helps you grow into the leader and person you want to be. It's not about giving you the answers. It's about helping you uncover your own. 

In coaching, we focus on:

• Gaining clarity around what matters most to you
• Removing internal roadblocks (like doubt, fear, or over-responsibility)
• Aligning your actions with your values and strengths
• Building habits that support meaningful leadership growth 

As a coach, I’m not here to direct your path—but to walk alongside you as a trusted thinking partner, asking the right questions and creating space for insight, alignment, and forward movement. 

Coaching vs. Therapy 

Therapy (or counselling) is designed to support healing, especially from trauma, emotional pain, or mental health challenges. It often explores the past to help make sense of the present. 

Coaching, on the other hand, focuses on creating the future. 

If your past is something you're actively working through, therapy may be the best next step. If your past is a fact—not a current emotional wound—and you're ready to move forward, coaching can help you grow. 

A simple distinction: 

• Therapy supports healing
• Coaching supports growth 

One way I often explain it—especially through the lens of positive psychology—is this: 

Therapy helps you go from -5 to 0 (getting back to baseline, healing emotional wounds), while coaching helps you go from 0 to +5 (building strengths, momentum, and flourishing).  

Both are incredibly valuable—it just depends on what kind of support you need right now.  

Coaching vs. Consulting 

Consultants are experts hired to assess, advise, and often solve specific problems. Their job is to deliver solutions, sometimes even doing the work for you. 

Coaching is different. 

As a coach, I support you in becoming the kind of leader who can solve problems for yourself, with clarity, confidence, and consistency. 

While I bring years of experience in leadership development, human resources, and team dynamics, my goal isn't to tell you what to do. It's to help you think more strategically, align with your values, and take empowered action. 

And when it makes sense, I'll share tools, frameworks, or suggestions—but always with a coaching lens: What resonates for you? What's most useful? 

Coaching vs. Mentoring

Mentoring is about guidance. A mentor shares their experience and offers advice: "Here's what worked for me. Try this." 

Coaching is about self-discovery: "What's your vision? What strengths can you build on? What's getting in the way?" 

Your leadership path is your own. Even if we share similar backgrounds or values, my role as a coach is to help you define success for yourself and build the confidence and clarity to live and lead from that place. 

The Bottom Line

Coaching isn't about fixing you.

It’s about partnering with you to amplify your strengths, clarify your direction, and step into your next level of leadership with intention.

If you've been curious about whether coaching is the right support for you (or someone on your team), I'd be happy to explore that with you.  

Click here to book a discovery call, or feel free to hit reply and reach out directly—I’m always happy to help you find the right fit for where you are now.