While coaching and counseling both provide a helpful relationship to support your wellness and growth, coaches and counselors can have significant differences in their training, their methods, and their goals.

PSYCHOTHERAPY:

Psychotherapy helps a client (or clients in the case of couples therapy) address and resolve symptoms which, in aggregate, impair her or his ability to function well in daily life. This can include symptoms related to Anxiety, Depression, Mood Disorders, Trauma, ADHD, Addictions and many other problems.

It is assumed that unless and until these problems are resolved, it may be difficult for people to make significant improvements in their lives. Once they are feeling stronger and more confident, they can start taking action to change their circumstances.

To practice psychotherapy, the clinician is required to complete:

• graduate level education much of which is focused on relationships (including couples, marriage...)

• licensure by the government (usually the state the client resides in), and

• thousands of hours of supervised training.
  

COACHING:

Coaching is focused on helping people "improve" their lives. Couples coaching typically works on relationship skills. It assumes that neither partner is currently experiencing a diagnosable disorder or if a disorder exists, the individual is receiving separate care for this condition.

For many couples, coaching can be an extremely effective way to improve their relationship. With coaching, the couples coach will help them set and achieve their relationship goals. The coaching work focuses on creating and maintaining motivation for change, exploring obstacles, and formulating a clear plan for an improved future. Improving communication, learning a more effective parenting approach, addressing financial conflict, and restoring a couple's sex life are all examples of topics that get addressed in couples coaching.

Coaching is unregulated by governmental authorities; however, many certification programs are available. These programs are run by private companies or not-for-profit organizations. With or without a certificate, anyone can legally call themselves a "coach".

Putting the difference into practice:

Psychotherapists can provide coaching but coaches can not provide psychotherapy without going through the regulatory steps for licensure. All our professionals are both psychotherapists and coaches.

Sounds pretty straightforward, right?

In reality, it is extremely helpful to have the psychological training to assess whether coaching is appropriate or not. It is unethical for a coach to diagnose or provide therapeutic services to anyone who is dealing with depression, anxiety, mood disorders, or other recognized mental health problems. When work begins with you, your therapist or coach will make an assessment, usually in the first session and confirmed in later sessions, to confirm that you will receive the appropriate level of care.

All of our therapists operate under the laws in the state of California. If you live outside of California, you will be able to receive coaching but not psychotherapy.

Please know that coaching is not reimbursed by insurance companies.

All of our professionals are licensed to practice psychotherapy in California. However, outside of California, they are fully equipped to provide "couples coaching". Therefore, our services are available as follows:

• California: Psychotherapy or Coaching (dependent on your needs)
  

• Outside California: Only Coaching

As explained in the previous "FAQ", there are several differences between psychotherapy and coaching but one of them is that couples coaches can NOT provide a medical diagnosis while psychotherapists can do so. Since most insurance companies do NOT reimburse for services unless a medical diagnosis is provided by a psychotherapist.

Nonetheless, some very progressive insurance companies and employers reimburse clients for "health and well-being coaching". You can ask your insurance companies or employers if they honor the following CPT codes:

• 0591T-95 - Health and Well-Being Coaching face-to-face; individual, initial assessment

• 0592T-95 - Individual, follow-up session, at least 30 minutes

Note: We do not provide diagnosis for clients outside of California. Some insurance companies require a non-coaching diagnosis for reimbursement.

Coaching services cost between $150/session to $350/session depending on the coach. Sessions last 50 minutes.