Coaching and Healing vs. Therapy and Counseling: What’s the Difference?
Why This Distinction Matters
If you’ve spent any time exploring the wellness world, you’ve probably noticed how often the words therapy, counseling, coaching, and healing get used interchangeably. On the surface, they may sound similar — after all, each one is about supporting people through challenges and helping them grow. But in reality, these are very different roles, each with their own boundaries, responsibilities, and ways of serving. This lack of clarity can sometimes lead to false assumptions about scope of practice.
As someone who offers coaching and healing work, I’ve encountered criticism from people who believe I am stepping into areas reserved for therapists or licensed clinicians. I want to be clear: that is not the case.
The truth is, there is overlap in the sense that people often seek out multiple forms of support at once. Someone may see a therapist for clinical care, while also working with a coach for accountability or with a healer for spiritual alignment. The confusion doesn’t come from what we actually do; it comes from how these roles are talked about, and the tendency to lump them all together under one umbrella.
I also want to acknowledge something I see often in my practice: many of the clients who come to me have had difficult, even traumatizing, experiences with counselors or therapists in the past. For them, the work I offer feels safer: not because it replaces therapy, but because it provides a supportive, non-clinical space where they can rebuild trust in themselves and their healing journey.
That’s why I feel it’s important to outline the distinctions here. By naming what therapy and counseling are, what coaching and healing are, and where they differ, I hope to provide clarity; both for those seeking support and for those questioning my work.
Transparency matters, and so does protecting both clients and practitioners from misunderstanding.
What Therapy and Counseling Encompass
Therapy and counseling are licensed, regulated professions. To call oneself a therapist or counselor in the clinical sense requires formal education, supervised training, state licensure, and ongoing adherence to ethical codes. These professions exist to provide structured, evidence-based care for mental health needs.
A therapist or counselor may:
Diagnose mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, or PTSD.
Treat and manage those conditions using established therapeutic methods.
Help clients process trauma and past experiences that are interfering with daily life.
Work within a clinical framework guided by boards, ethical standards, and professional regulations.
This clinical foundation matters. Therapists and counselors carry the responsibility of supporting individuals who need medical or psychological treatment for diagnosable conditions. Their work is vital; it is distinct from what coaches and healers do.
For those navigating mental health disorders, therapy is often the most appropriate and necessary level of care. At the same time, many people choose to pair therapy with other supportive practices, like coaching or healing, to create a fuller, more holistic framework for their well-being.
It’s also worth noting that the word therapy can mean very different things depending on the context. In the state of Washington, therapy refers to licensed mental health treatment; however, in the wellness world, the word is often attached to non-clinical modalities such as sound therapy, crystal therapy, or energy therapy — practices that are not regulated in the same way, because they are not intended to diagnose, treat, or replace mental health care. This distinction is important, especially when there are active attempts to discredit practitioners for using language that has multiple meanings. While I respect the seriousness of clinical therapy as a regulated profession, my own work belongs firmly in the non-clinical, supportive category.
What Coaching and Healing Encompass
While therapy and counseling are clinical in nature, coaching and healing occupy a very different space. They are not diagnostic or prescriptive. A coach or healer does not label a condition, create a treatment plan, or claim to “fix” anything. Instead, the emphasis is on supporting the person — meeting them where they are, walking beside them, and helping them move toward greater balance, growth, or self-understanding.
It’s important to acknowledge that people living with mental health conditions do sometimes seek out coaching or healing. That’s not unusual, and it’s not inappropriate. The distinction lies in what happens within the work itself. Coaching and healing can provide encouragement, resources, and tools — but they do not replace clinical treatment. In fact, for many, they serve as a complementary layer of support that addresses areas therapy might not reach, such as embodiment, spiritual connection, or personal empowerment.
What I offer is spiritual coaching and healing, grounded both in my certifications and in my role as an ordained minister. Coaching, in most settings, is goal-oriented and forward-looking. The focus is less on analyzing the past and more on helping someone clarify where they want to go and how to get there. Many coaches, myself included, draw from personal lived experience offering practices, perspectives, and strategies that have proven meaningful in our own lives.
Healing often looks different depending on the practitioner. Some approaches are somatic or body-based, while others center on energy work, yoga, meditation, or forms of spiritual guidance. What unites these approaches is a focus on balance, embodiment, and self-discovery. Healing work is not a replacement for therapy, but many find that it complements clinical care by offering a more holistic and experiential layer of support.
In Washington State, this kind of work is formally supported through the role of ordained ministers, who are entrusted to offer spiritual care, guidance, and encouragement rooted in lived wisdom and faith. Ministry in this sense isn’t about diagnosing or prescribing—it’s about walking alongside someone, holding space for their process, and offering tools and support as they pursue their own growth and goals.
For me personally, the work I offer blends both somatic coaching and healing but with a very specific orientation. My practice has always leaned toward the energetic and spiritual side. I engage in my own divination and discernment practices during the work, allowing intuitive insight to guide the process. As a shamanic practitioner, my work sometimes involves shamanic journeying, divination, soul retrieval, and energy work on behalf of my clients. These are not clinical interventions; they are spiritual practices designed to help restore balance, clarity, and connection.
At its heart, my work is about creating a spiritual container for growth. Clients often come to me not just for support but to deepen into their own gifts. A significant part of my coaching and healing involves helping people develop their psychic gifts and intuitive skills, so they can navigate life with a stronger sense of alignment and trust in their inner knowing.
This is what distinguishes coaching and healing from therapy. It’s not about treatment; it’s about empowerment. It’s not about labeling or diagnosing; it’s about resourcing. It’s about offering companionship, practices, and insight so that people can move forward on their path with greater strength and clarity.
Where Therapy and Coaching/Healing Complement Each Other
One of the most important things to understand is that therapy and coaching or healing are not in competition. They are not interchangeable, but they also don’t cancel each other out. In fact, when used together, they often create a much richer, more supportive framework for a person’s well-being.
Therapy provides the clinical foundation — a structured, evidence-based approach for addressing diagnosable conditions, past traumas, or persistent mental health struggles. A therapist has the tools to guide someone through complex emotional terrain and to hold space for healing at the psychological level. This is an invaluable resource, and one that I frequently encourage my clients to consider when they are navigating something that requires professional clinical support.
At the same time, coaching and healing can serve as a parallel form of support, addressing areas that therapy doesn’t always cover. While therapy may focus on processing the past or stabilizing acute struggles, coaching and healing often emphasize living fully in the present and building toward the future. They can provide accountability, encouragement, and practical resources that help someone take what they are learning in therapy and translate it into daily life.
Healing, in particular, can complement therapy by bringing the body, spirit, and energy field into the picture. For example, someone working through trauma in therapy may find that somatic or energetic practices help them integrate that work on a deeper, non-verbal level. Similarly, someone exploring their life purpose with a counselor may discover that spiritual practices like meditation, shamanic journeying, or energy alignment provide a tangible connection to their intuition.
A Personal Note
I want to add something here from my own experience. I’ve worked with therapists for many years — in fact, I was in therapy once a week for over 12 years. And while therapy gave me a foundation and absolutely has its place, I also had experiences that left me questioning the system.
I’ve worked with therapists who bent or ignored boundaries — from not following the law, to letting their ego run the session, to one even suggesting we hold our session in their car because they were hungry and wanted food. Experiences like this made it clear to me that not all therapists are good, just as not all doctors are good. A certification or degree, by itself, does not make someone an ethical or effective practitioner.
Over time, I also realized something else: therapy kept me in the cycle of reliving my trauma, not necessarily resolving it. Week after week, I was talking about the same pain, but I wasn’t moving through it. This is where I found the deeper breakthroughs through coaching and healing — particularly in body-based and spiritual practices that allowed me to integrate, release, and grow.
That doesn’t mean I dismiss therapy altogether. I still seek counseling when it’s truly needed. But I’ve come to see that the Western mentality of “just see a therapist” is too narrow. There are some issues therapy simply isn’t structured to address, especially when it comes to spiritual or energetic dimensions, or when liability concerns prevent a therapist from stepping outside strict boundaries. Coaching and healing have filled that gap for me — and for many others who need something more holistic.
Acknowledging Boundaries: Scope of Practice in My Work
Because of the overlap in language and the broad spectrum of wellness practices, it’s important for me to be very clear about what I do — and what I do not do. Transparency is not only about protecting myself as a practitioner; it’s about protecting the people I serve.
Here’s what my work does not include:
I do not diagnose mental health conditions.
I do not prescribe medication.
I do not claim to “treat” mental illness in the clinical or medical sense.
I do not position my work as a replacement for therapy, counseling, or medical care.
And here’s what my work does include:
I offer coaching and healing practices that are supportive, not clinical.
I share tools, resources, and insights from my own lived experience and training.
I create a spiritual and energetic container where clients can explore, align, and grow.
I use practices like divination, shamanic journeying, soul retrieval, and energy work to help clients connect more deeply with themselves.
I support people in developing their intuitive and psychic gifts so they can trust their inner guidance.
I sometimes use terms like somatic to describe the embodiment practices I offer through self-inquiry, yoga, breathwork, parts work, and sound healing. These are not clinical therapies, but supportive practices focused on reconnecting with the body and cultivating awareness.
These boundaries are intentional. They allow me to practice ethically, while also staying true to the heart of my work. They also make sure my clients know exactly what to expect when they step into this space with me.
And while I am always clear about the limits of my role, I also believe it’s important to be honest about the pitfalls of counseling and therapy. My experiences have taught me that therapy is valuable, but it isn’t perfect — and it isn’t the answer to everything. Saying this shouldn’t make me a target; it’s simply my personal opinion, grounded in lived experience. Just as not every doctor is a good fit, not every therapist is, either. Therapy has its rightful place, and I respect it deeply, but it should not be held up as the only valid path to healing.
I believe everyone deserves to be clear about who they are working with, whether that person is a therapist, a coach, a healer, or something else. My role is to stand firmly within the lane of support, empowerment, and spiritual alignment— and to always honor the boundaries that keep this work safe, ethical, and grounded.
Why This Clarity Matters
The distinctions between therapy, counseling, coaching, and healing aren’t just professional semantics. They have real-world consequences for both clients and practitioners.
For clients, clarity creates safety and trust. When people know exactly what they’re stepping into, they can make informed decisions about what kind of support is right for them. They won’t come to a coach expecting therapy, or to a therapist expecting energy work. Instead, they understand the scope of each role and can combine them in ways that feel most supportive for their unique journey.
For practitioners, clarity creates protection and integrity. By stating openly what I do and what I don’t do, I avoid misleading anyone. I also guard myself against false accusations of overstepping scope. The wellness world is full of overlapping practices and sometimes, unfortunately, judgment from those who don’t understand them. But boundaries and transparency speak for themselves.
For the larger wellness culture, clarity creates collaboration instead of competition. Therapists, coaches, and healers can work side by side when they respect one another’s roles. Rather than policing each other, we can recognize that each path serves a different purpose. The ultimate goal is the same: supporting people in moving from suffering to empowerment, from fragmentation to wholeness.
This is why I am so intentional about naming the limits and the strengths of my work. Coaching and healing do not replace therapy, nor do they claim to. At the same time, they hold their own essential place in supporting people in ways therapy sometimes cannot.
The more we acknowledge this, the more empowered clients become — and the stronger we all are as practitioners working ethically within our own gifts.
Defining Roles in Support & Care
At the end of the day, therapy, counseling, coaching, and healing all exist because people are seeking support. Each approach speaks to different needs, and each one has its rightful place. The problem is not that these paths overlap — the problem comes when we fail to name the distinctions clearly.
My goal in writing this is simple: to be transparent about the nature of my work, to honor the boundaries of my practice, and to protect both myself and my clients from misunderstanding. I am not a therapist. I do not diagnose, adminster, prescribe, or treat. What I do offer is something different but no less valuable: a space for spiritual and energetic support, a chance to step into alignment, and guidance for those ready to deepen into their own intuitive gifts.
In my personal experience of living and working in a small town, the culture has at times felt shaped by liability concerns, hearsay, gossip, and the unique dynamics of a close-knit professional community. Work that falls outside traditional frameworks has often been looked down on or misunderstood, even when its purpose is to support healing and self-awareness.
This pattern is not new. Historically, many now-respected healing practices were initially misunderstood or dismissed. For example, mindfulness and meditation—which today are widely integrated into clinical psychology and medicine—were once regarded in the West as fringe spiritual practices with little credibility. Similarly, body-oriented practices such as yoga or somatic awareness were long considered “alternative” or “unscientific,” despite their deep historical roots and eventual evidence base.
Just as those modalities eventually found recognition, I recognize that somatic and integration practices may also be misunderstood within traditional medical or therapeutic cultures, especially in small communities where professional and social boundaries often overlap. This awareness has made me cautious in my referral choices, and I limit my referral network to providers I know to be open, ethical, and respectful of integrative approaches.
I also recognize that sharing these observations could invite criticism or even harassment toward my work. Still, I believe honesty is important. Pretending that therapy is flawless — or that every therapist is ethical and client-centered — does a disservice to people who deserve transparency. My intention is not to disparage, but to acknowledge that therapy, like any profession, has its pitfalls. This doesn’t mean therapy itself is without value. I spent over a decade in weekly therapy and I know firsthand the stability, tools, and language it can provide. But I have also had experiences where the process left me feeling unsupported or even harmed.
That said, I have trusted resources outside of my local area that I consistently refer clients to when additional counseling support is needed. My priority is always making sure that people receive the care that will actually serve them. For me, it comes back to integrity. I will never recommend a resource I do not trust myself, even while I acknowledge the rightful place of therapy and counseling in the broader landscape of healing.
Disclaimer: This post is for educational and informational purposes only. I am not a licensed mental health provider. The services I offer are not intended to diagnose, treat, or replace therapy, counseling, or medical care. Please seek licensed professional support for mental health concerns. When I use the term somatic in describing my work, it refers specifically to embodiment practices drawn from self-inquiry, yoga, movement, and sound healing. I am not a licensed somatic therapist, nor do I offer somatic therapy as a clinical modality. My work is supportive and non-clinical, intended to help clients reconnect with their bodies and energy systems, and should not be confused with licensed therapeutic care.
