What is the difference between coaching, therapy, and mentoring?

While therapy looks towards the patient’s past to ascertain how (s)he views/approaches certain situations and mentoring looks towards a mentor’s past to give advice and guide a mentee through certain situations, coaching takes the client in the present and by asking powerful questions allows the client to learn more about themselves and transform into the person they most want to be to achieve their goals.

I once heard this analogy to distinguish between the three modalities (which at times can overlap) and found it to be very helpful. Imagine you are struggling to learn how to ride a bike and you ask a therapist, a mentor, and a coach for help, here is how they would reply:

• A therapist would have you approach the bike and ask how it feels, what prior associations you have with bikes and find out what your past experience with bikes is and suggest strategies to help
• A mentor would have experience riding bikes, would explain how they learnt and write a ‘how to’ guide for you to follow
• A coach would ask you to get on the bike and walk alongside you until you could do it on your own

What is CoActive coaching?

Co-Active is a contextual lens through which one can experience life and leadership from different orientations. CoActive coaching revolves around a mindset that we must coexist in the world as those who are being as well as those are doing. What it means is that we embrace each person as a whole person, where career influences personal life and vice versa so they are intertwined and necessarily all parts of a person are available for discussion so that we can transform into our best selves and lead our most fulfilling lives. A cornerstone of CoActive coaching is that as coaches we approach each client as a naturally-creative, resourceful, and whole person who is capable of being and doing everything they want in this world; our job is to help them tap into those dreams rather than trying to fix a broken person or problem.

Who do I coach?

Individuals who either find themselves in some kind of transition (career pivot, new parenthood, retirement, etc) or feel stuck in a current situation and are looking to find more clarity, balance, and/or joy in their lives.

How are coaching sessions conducted?

All coaching sessions are done virtually to try to respect people’s schedules. They are most commonly conducted via Zoom. However, if a client prefers to conduct the sessions via a phone call instead of a video conference, I find these methods equally effective and I allow clients to choose their preference. I meet with my clients every other week to establish a reliable cadence to maintain accountability without feeling overwhelming. I work with a commitment of at least six sessions to ensure enough time for real growth.