What’s the Difference Between Therapy and Coaching?

Therapy and coaching are distinct services.

I offer psychotherapy, a healthcare service, as a licensed clinical psychologist in California.

As a client seeing me for therapy, you can:

• Complete a comprehensive intake with me that includes diagnostic evaluation

• Gain insight into your mental health symptoms, diagnoses, and patterns

• Discuss topics deeper than coaching can go, including trauma, intimacy, abuse, grief, childhood, family relationships, etc.

• Choose an evidence-based treatment plan that's right for you

• Track your treatment progress over time with measurement-based care

• Submit superbills to insurance for reimbursement

As a coach, I specialize in behavioral change relating to your work and career. Coaching is not a healthcare service, it doesn't involve any formal psychological diagnostic evaluation, and it's not reimbursed by insurance. Coaching is great for someone who doesn't want or need therapy, or who already has a therapist and is looking for support with immediate, targeted behavioral change for a specific problem.

As a client seeing me for coaching, you will: 

• Identify one to three core behavioral areas you'd like to work on in your job or career (i.e. procrastination, improving professional relationships, learning how to motivate others, delegating, initiating a career pivot, etc.)

• Consider what success would look like for you in these areas

• Learn what's perpetuating these issues, if you don't already know

• Strengthen your understanding of your core values

• Learn how to do "behavioral self-experiments"

• Discover how to use your core values and behavioral experiments within in a unique coaching framework that systematically and comprehensively addresses your issues

• Practice behavioral change and troubleshoot in session until you've reached your coaching goals

Can’t decide?

We can discuss whether coaching or therapy might be a better fit for you in a free 15-min intro call.