Therapy or Coaching?

A couple of days ago I read a post on Instagram where one blog-magazine reader was asking the following question: I am so unhappy with my current job; after a burnout, I have lost all my courage. What should I do? The author's answer was: go, look for a good therapist. Put your life together so that it works best for you.

Now, I think that there is no fast answer to that and before anyone recommends anything, it would need a conversation with the person to see and realize her needs. You see, my personal view is that you don't need a therapy for everything in life. Don't get me wrong here, I have already done a couple of therapies and I am very glad to have found really good therapists where I lived. But maybe this person doesn't want to look back, maybe she just wants to look ahead and then she doesn't necessarily need a therapy, but rather a coaching.

So my approach would be following: If the reader hasn't dealt with her burnout and its origins, I would recommend going to a therapist. If this has happened already and the reader wants to start looking ahead, wants to change her job maybe, wants to become clear about certain aspects in her life, but doesn't know where to start, then I'd recommend a coaching.

In coaching, we are focussing on the future. Sure, we are talking about the status-quo situation, as well about similar experiences in the past and how the client dealt with these. Then we try to find out together if these strategies are still valid and can be used for the current situation. We are figuring out the most ideal situation - no daydreaming, always having in mind that the client can only control herself, not the world. Always checking the eco-system that the person is living in and preventing the person from putting on the pink glasses. One very important part of the coaching process is feedback, honest feedback - very much appreciated by the persons being coached.

Coaching is about development, new paths and new perspectives. Its results are new levels of clarity, performance or self-fulfillment and quality in life. And if this is what you are looking for, then you are very much right for the coaching process.