Often, many get confused with relationship coaching and couples therapy as they’re often interchanged. But while most of their goals align, there are still distinct differences between coaching and therapy for relationships. Therapy focuses on mental well-being, while coaching is result-driven and more goal-oriented. Rather than substituting, both methods are meant to supplement each other. Read on for more in-depth explanations of the two.
What is Couples Therapy?
It is based on psychotherapy, a method that lets individuals explore their feelings, thoughts, moods, and behaviours. Couples therapy is facilitated by licensed Marriage and Family Therapists who can help couples navigate their problems and feelings about their relationship.
Therapists use diverse methods to achieve results. For instance, the Gottman Method is a popular type of relationship therapy that focuses on a relationship’s hierarchy of needs. It is often used to help couples improve their emotional closeness. Meanwhile, other methods can focus on unresolved childhood issues affecting their interpersonal and romantic relationship.
What Does a Relationship Coach Do?
A relationship coach applies coaching techniques to help advance romantic, platonic, and even business relationships. It is a more positive and results-oriented approach that focuses on achieving an individual’s personal and relationship goals. Its purpose is to help couples identify weaknesses in their relationship, establish goals for improvement and work to achieve them.
A more straightforward approach, it offers couples a concrete action plan to help them achieve their relationship goals. By working together as a team, you can align your objectives. Instead of focusing on the root of the problems, coaching focuses more on solutions. It also takes less time than therapy, but it is not always the only solution, especially for couples with more deeply rooted problems that need to be dissected and addressed.
It is not meant to treat psychological and emotional disorders. Instead, coaches encourage and facilitate the success of their clients without providing “professional opinions.”
Which Should You Choose?
Coaching and therapy have many overlapping goals. Therapy is a good option if you are seeking help with emotional issues like learning how to cope with extreme emotions in your relationship. However, coaching will be a better option if you need help with an external goal, such as getting back with an ex, learning how to be a more responsive partner or taking your relationship to the next step.
But when deciding which one to get, think about the answer to these questions: “What brought you here? What is your goal?”. Then again, you can gain a lot from both, and you won’t always have to choose one over the other, especially if you are dealing with psychological and emotional barriers as well.
The Origin of Relationship Coaching
It used to be that there was no distinction between a relationship coach and a relationship therapist. That’s because the term has been used for many years by professionals, such as marriage and family therapists, psychotherapists, social workers, psychologists and entrepreneurial para-professionals with various backgrounds.
In 1995, life coaching became a recognised profession with standards and certification established by the International Coach Federation. With the development of that profession, David Steele (a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist based in California) developed relationship coaching as a coaching specialty with its standards, professional training, methodologies and certification. He also founded the Relationship Coaching Institute in 1997.
The Different Types
Marriage Coach
It is a type of coaching designed for married couples to help them find harmony in their marriage. While it doesn’t delve into your psyche and unravel past traumas, it helps married couples untangle miscommunications to help them understand each other better and become more responsive spouses.
Love Coach
Love coaches help people have a more fulfilling romantic relationship. They are experienced and specially trained in the area of love and relationships. These skills make them perfectly equipped to guide individuals towards romantic success.
Dating Coach
Entering the dating world is tough, but that’s what dating coaches are for. With their help, individuals can develop interpersonal skills to find success in dating and relationships. For instance, they can create mock dates to help clients feel more confident about the actual thing.
Family Coach
The role of a family coach is to help family members identify their goals and establish new behaviours and routines that will enable them to achieve positive change and continuous results.
The Benefits
This type of coaching doesn’t just benefit those looking to develop a good relationship. In fact, it can help you turn your current relationship into a better one. After all, improvements are always welcome. With that said, here are some of the best benefits:
Understand Each Other Better
What motivates you and your partner? By knowing your partner on a deeper level, you can quickly sense when something is off, even when the other says everything is fine. You will gain communication skills to help you resolve problems without spending too much time in frustration or anger over each other’s actions.
Instant Results
Coaching helps you see immediate results since it will start you on your journey quickly. Coaches offer actionable directions that you can follow at once. For instance, you can focus on improving the quality of small daily interactions.
Deeper Understanding of Yourself
The quality of your romantic and platonic relationships starts with you. You must first understand your mindset and behaviours in your relationship with others to establish better ones. By doing so, you can resolve inner conflicts and establish boundaries better.
Identifying Negative Patterns
You may not always be aware that your relationship issues may be a manifestation of established negative patterns. Through coaching, you can identify those patterns and work towards developing healthier responses to them, helping you break away from negative habits.
Better Communication
Working with a coach helps you learn how to communicate positively and effectively so you won’t resort to holding things back. You can also stop repressing your negative feelings and tolerating unhealthy behaviour. With this, you can let go of frustrations and look towards improvement going forward.
Deepend Intimacy
Once you understand your partner better, you can respect each other better. It will enhance your capacity for emotional intimacy and help you change your relationship for the better.
Gain Better Relationships with Daftein
A meaningful life is filled with all sorts of relationships. And online relationship coaching may just be the key to improving yours. Find greater gratification in your relationships and choose Daftein for professional relationship coaching for couples. But we aren’t limited to romantic connections. We also help you establish a deeper connection with your platonic ties.
At Daftein, our programs can provide you with the tools you need to communicate with each other better and positively resolve conflicts. You will also gain the skills to find deeper connections with others. Enrich your experiences with your partner, friends and family and contact us to get guidance from an experienced relationship coach.
What We Do
Married Couples – We help couples find harmony in marriage by resolving misunderstandings and teaching them how to become more responsive partners.
Singles – Do you need a better perspective on your romantic ties? We will help you understand what you want out of your relationship and whether you’re ready to move yours to the next stage.
Families and Friends – Coaching doesn’t just focus on romantic bonds. Instead, we also help you improve your relationships with people who are special to you. Strengthen your bonds with your family and friends through coaching.
Grief – Did you have a close bond with someone who has already passed, and you are having trouble moving forward? Losing someone dear to you is a difficult time, and you may need assistance to help you get yourself together. In this instance, coaching can also help.
If you need help with any of the issues mentioned above, don’t hesitate to book an appointment with us to begin your journey towards improving your relationships.
