Anxiety Care Coaching &
 Holistic Counseling plus
Hypnosis

Life Coaching vs Psychotherapy

By Dianne Ruth, PhD

LIFE COACHING is positive and motivational. It is largely present and future goal oriented. It helps you to maximize and get the most quality out of living your life with fun, satisfaction, and fulfillment.

HOLISTIC COUNSELING

HOLISTIC COUNSELING teaches self-use techniques for identifying and releasing old emotional blocks and limiting beliefs/decisions. The life coaching process then becomes more powerful, successful, and effective.

OLD ISSUES

Sometimes you might have non-clinical "unfinished" business with the past. Some examples might be some old and inappropriate limiting beliefs about your ability to achieve success. There may be one or more emotionally charged negative experiences that are keeping you stuck in some area of your life.

For example,  experiencing a debilitating fear of public speaking can play havoc with your career.

A Case Study

I once had a client by the name of Barry who had been promoted to a position in his company that required him to make presentations to various business groups. He was terrified!

As a child, Barry froze up in front of the classroom while trying to give a book report. He was subsequently laughed at, criticized and ridiculed. This created an emotionally limiting decision about never wanting to get up in front of an audience ever again.

This event had even been "lost" to conscious memory. I simply coached Barry through a simple timeline process which helped him identify the memory.

Through the timeline process, he was then able to quickly and easily release the block permanently. (See my Power Toolbox as there are several other methods for accomplishing the same outcome.) Within just a few sessions, he was a role model for the Toastmaster's Club.  

COACHING IS ABOUT BALANCE

One difference between psychotherapy and Life Coaching & Holistic Counseling is that there is none of the imbalance in the Coaching & Holistic Counseling relationship as usually found in psychotherapy such as, "doctor-patient" or "expert-client." 

In Life Coaching & Holistic Counseling, it is a co-partnership dedicated to your performance of excellence and rediscovery of your values, inclinations and desires.

In a Life Coaching & Holistic Counseling relationship, a Life Coach & Holistic Counselor does not present himself or herself to you as an authority, expert, or psychological healer; you are the expert and the Life Coach & Holistic Counselor is your supporter and guide, keeping you focused and on-track.

PSYCHOTHERAPY ENDS WITH RELIEF

Another difference between psychotherapy and Life Coaching & Holistic Counseling is that in psychotherapy, clients are generally going through severe pain and suffering. They are seeking relief; they are looking to the therapist to fix them or help them eliminate their problem. 

They will seek therapy to deal with their acute distress so they can then leave, terminate the relationship, and resume their previous emotional, semi-functional status. They usually never quite achieve their potential for amazing accomplishment and euphoric inner peace, however.

LONG AND SHORT-TERM TREATMENT

In Life Coaching & Holistic Counseling, the relationship may typically be long-term. It could last months and years. 

Sometimes there are situations where a you may seek time-limited Life Coaching & Holistic Counseling such as being Life Coached & Holistically Counseled through a special project or personal transition. An example might be resolving a romantic conflict or quickly learning highly effective rapport skills for a job promotion. That can also be an option.

This is different from psychotherapy that could be a brief encounter with a therapist for a specific issue or concern such as overwhelming grief over the loss of a loved one. 

Sometimes clients may be severely emotionally damaged and need to stay in psychotherapy for many years simply to maintain an emotional holding pattern. This could serve to help them avoid potential institutionalization.

Life Coaching & Holistic Counseling clients often stay for the duration because they want to, not because they need to.  

RECOVER IN ONLY 3 MONTHS

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the average length of time a client is in psychotherapy is 2 to 7 years of weekly treatments.

Because of the powerful methods I use to teach the client successful self-use techniques for taking control of his or her own life (for life), the average length of time a client works with me is between 3 and 5 months of weekly single (45-minute) sessions. Your results can often be achieved in half the time by choosing to do double (90-minute) sessions weekly!

When beginning your program of healing, you will likely start to feel better by the end of your first session. After that, each session will quantum leap you to the next level of relief.

By the end of 6 single sessions (or three double sessions beyond the introductory session) most clients are experiencing significant signs of improvement. This is usually described as fewer and less intense episodes until suddenly, all anxiety is gone for good!

Of course, no one is able to accurately predict the exact length of time a person may require help through the Life Coaching & Holistic Counseling process. Goals, of course, are usually set.

Sometimes all a person really needs are as few as 2 or 3 sessions to take care of their immediate concern. For example, perhaps the individual has a paralyzing fear of flying, and an urgent situation suddenly and unexpectedly arises which requires them to travel by plane.

A Case Study

A young woman once came to me because of claustrophobia (a fear of enclosed places); in her case the fear was especially overwhelming in elevators. Several years earlier, she had been trapped all alone in an old elevator for several hours while traveling in Europe.

Up until recently, she had been working for a company located on the first floor of an office building. The company decided to relocate to the 14th floor.

Because she loved her job and did not want to leave, she was attempting to hike up and down the 14 floors daily in order to avoid taking the elevator. Unfortunately, this activity was just too strenuous for her to continue indefinitely.

In just a few Life Coaching & Holistic Counseling sessions which involved releasing that old associated trauma, she was able to transform her fear of getting into an elevator into "riding the elevator of success" to new dazzling career heights.

Sometimes, a person may elect to stay in the relationship much longer in order to accomplish ongoing personal growth and development. Alternately, their issues may be complex, complicated and many, calling for more emotional tools and extended processing.

Life Coaching & Holistic Counseling and psychotherapy can be mutually supportive. Some people work with a life coach / holistic counselor and a therapist at the same time.

Note: See Side Bar on right for more information.

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According to the National Institute of Mental Health, psychotherapy only has a 20% success rate. I have a 97% success rate, and over 36 years experience.

I honor your race, religion, culture, and way of life. I welcome adults in consensual, sane and safe, alternative sexual and other lifestyles.

Differences in Boundaries

The boundaries that exist in the psychotherapy relationship are quite rigid. 

This is mostly because the patient/client is usually suffering a clinically diagnosable condition, and sometimes they can be very fragile emotionally. 

Breeching these boundaries can often be devastating for the patient/client.

Some boundaries can include no contact outside of the therapeutic setting, e.g., office, clinic, hospital, etc. except in very rare, justifiable and extenuating circumstances.

Self-disclosure on the part of the psychotherapist is generally minimal and discouraged by supervisors and peers.

Also, allowing a genuine two-way friendship to evolve is not supported.