This is the title of a section in a journal article published in 2013 titled “Coaching vs Psychotherapy in Health and Wellness” and it’s meant to contribute to a conversation among disciplines about firming up the differences between the two. Among many academic references, the article quotes a book titled “Evidence-Based Coaching Handbook” wherein the author says among other things “…therapy seeks to comfort the afflicted.” and coaches “…seek to increase information flow, energy, and diversity to a level that helps the person move out of stable mind-sets and behaviors so as to create new insights, understandings, and actions.” All that to say that a coach’s job is to find the things that inspire, motivate, and enliven the client while also finding the most effective tools at their disposal for their health and wellness.
Another difference between a therapist and a coach is that the therapist model is an expert model that does have elements of a top-down relationship especially when they must intervene if the situation calls for it.
A coach can certainly check in with a client and provide information if warranted but it comes from a co-creative process with the model being that the client is the expert in their own lives. If the coach suspects that a therapist would serve the client best, the coach would then recommend therapy.
The same Coaching vs Psychotherapy in Health and Wellness article gives examples of things that might prompt a coach to refer the client.
It’s important to understand that the above can have the additional element of intervention if any become harmful to either the client on someone who may fall victim to a client suffering from the above conditions.
That said, coaches can still work along side or in addition to therapy in circumstances where appropriate.