Coaching vs Therapy
For today’s blog entry, we welcome a guest author who shares with us her journey in therapy and coaching. Hear from talented visual artist Nicha as she narrates the differences she discovered between coaching and therapy.
Illustration by @gap.nicha | Title: Mind of a strategist, heart of a free bird
Coaching vs therapy By Nicha Jaroensuk
I’ve been in therapy for, what seems like, a lifetime. But truth be told, it’d only started when I was 13. Through therapy sessions (and therapists after therapists), I have became quite an expert in the methodology and the experience of therapy.
Through the years, I’ve learned to look into the past, dissecting it and re-looking at it with a new insight, new story. I have learned to comfortably sit with my feelings and answer the how does that make you feel? question **with honesty and vulnerability. I am changed by it. I have grown from it.
And that’s when the uneasiness started.
Sure, I’ve made friends with my past, I’ve also gained the tools to cope with the day-to-day. But what about the future? I’ve looked back, now the time has come to look forward.
That’s when I decided to start my journey with Matter Inc. I’ve never tried life coaching before. I wasn’t sure how different, or similar, this might be to the therapy I’m used to. I didn’t know much, but what I knew was, this is an investment I’m making on myself. Because if there’s one thing that therapy has taught me, it’s that I am worth investing in.
The biggest difference between therapy and life coaching is the result. Life coaching is a journey, and not an easy one, but unlike therapy, there’s a destination. Goals set, ambitions realised and the thinking process to take you to whatever destination you’ve set your heart on.
Now, I’m not in any way saying that I’ve achieved my goal or reached the height of my potential, not yet, but with life coaching, I can see a clear path towards my destination and me inching closer and closer to it.
Based on my experience, therapy is exploring the intangible - things like analysing the past, coming in terms with it and being able to know and identify your feelings. These are all the necessities for life but because it’s intangible, sometimes it seems like there’s no end in sight. I mean, is there ever an ending for self-assessment and coping your feelings? It’s mostly maintenance work, isn’t it?
Life coaching, on the other hand, you are set out on a path towards your goal - whatever that may be. It’s looking ahead into the future with the mind of a strategist and the heart of a free bird. It’s a process that didn’t only bring me a plan, but it brought me hope - hope for the future.
Working with Matter Inc. was eye-opening for me in many ways. I started off not really know what I wanted out of life and how to live it as authentically as I should be. At the end of it, I came out on the other side knowing myself, realised new possibilities I actually have through fresh perspectives that I wouldn’t normally get in therapy.
It’s your world, seen through the eyes of someone who has their eyes on the prize - well, your prize. What come after are tangible results and visible progress. My life isn’t perfect, not even close, but I can now confidently live as my most authentic self, seeing how high my potential could fly and most importantly, what my true prize is.