Life Coaching Isn’t Therapy—But It Might Be Exactly What You Need Right Now
Let’s get this out of the way: life coaching isn’t therapy. But if you're feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or like your next season of life is knocking while you're still trying to find the door—coaching might be the space you didn’t know you needed.
Maybe you’re not in crisis, but something’s off. Your days are full, but your heart feels like it’s buffering. You’ve done the self-help podcasts, the journaling, maybe even a yoga retreat—and yet, here you are. Wondering why things still feel... flat.
You're not broken. You're just in a stretch of life where clarity is harder to come by. Coaching is where that fog starts to lift.
Therapy vs. Coaching: What's the Difference?
Therapy is a powerful, often necessary tool—especially for working through trauma, mental health diagnoses, or deeply rooted emotional patterns. It often looks backward to understand what shaped you.
Life Coaching, on the other hand, meets you in the present and helps you move forward.
Where therapy might ask, “Where did this pattern begin?”, coaching asks, “What do you want now—and how do we get there?”
You don’t need to choose one instead of the other. Sometimes, coaching follows therapy. Sometimes, they happen side-by-side. And sometimes, coaching is simply the right fit for the season you’re in.
What Life Coaching Actually Feels Like
Spoiler alert: It’s not about being told what to do.
A good coach doesn’t hand you a script. They hand you a mirror. And then they stand beside you while you reconnect with the voice you’ve buried under everyone else’s expectations.
You get to be honest without apologizing. You get to say, “I don’t know what I want—but I know it’s not this.” You get to explore without judgment, without performance, and without the pressure to have it all figured out.
Most importantly? You leave each session with more clarity, not more noise.
What You Might Work on in Life Coaching
Every woman brings something different to the table. But here are some of the most common things that come up in coaching sessions:
Untangling the “shoulds” from what you actually want
Rebuilding trust with your own instincts after years of people-pleasing
Finding the courage to make a pivot (career, family, identity)
Creating rhythms that reflect your values—not your exhaustion
Naming what’s no longer working so you can move forward with intention
This is deep work—but it doesn’t have to feel heavy. Life coaching with the right person (hi, it’s me) feels like a deep exhale, a strong cup of coffee, and a very honest conversation with someone who gets it.
What the Research Says
You don’t just have to take my word for it. The International Coaching Federation reports that:
80% of people who hire a coach experience improved self-confidence
Over 70% see better work performance, relationships, and communication
99% of clients say they’re “satisfied or very satisfied” with the coaching experience
Why? Because life coaching helps cut through the static. It’s forward-focused, action-oriented, and completely personalized.
Coaching Is a Safe Space—But It’s Not a Soft One
Life Coaching isn’t about hand-holding or sugar-coating. It’s about truth-telling, pattern-breaking, and saying the thing out loud for the first time in a long time.
It’s for the woman who’s done a lot of holding—of other people, of routines, of expectations. And who’s finally ready to hold space for herself.
It’s for the young adult trying to sort through the noise of who they should be and remember who they actually are.
It’s for the parent who’s tired of parenting on autopilot and wants to reconnect with themselves and their kids.
In short? It’s for you, exactly as you are, in whatever messy, beautiful season you’re in.
Coaching Isn’t Therapy—But It Is Transformative
You don’t need to wait until you're falling apart to ask for support. Sometimes, what you need isn’t to be fixed—it’s to be witnessed. To have someone hold a light while you figure out your next move.
So if you’ve been circling the same questions over and over, trying to get clarity through more effort, maybe it’s time for something different.
Maybe it’s time to stop muscling through and start being met where you are—with honesty, care, and actual momentum.
Ready to Find Your Next Step?
If life coaching feels like the support you didn’t know you were missing, I’d love to walk with you.
Book a free consultation to see if we’re a fit!
Sources & Further Reading
International Coaching Federation. 2023 Global Coaching Study.
https://coachingfederation.org/research/global-coaching-studyHarvard Business Review. The Value of Coaching in Times of Change.
https://hbr.org/2020/03/the-value-of-coaching-in-times-of-changeBetterUp. What’s the difference between therapy and coaching?
https://www.betterup.com/blog/coaching-vs-therapy