A coach is different than a therapist in a couple ways. a coach is not certified or licensed to hold therapy session. they have a specific area of expertise and they teach that.

For example - Laura Davis author of many self help books among them - The Courage to Heal, Allies in Healing, I thought we'd never speak again, . She is a coach. what she teaches is not therapy tools. she teaches people how to write non fiction and how to write a book proposal for pubishing.

A therapist around here is also a parenting coach - she teaches parenting skills and effective parenting for various aged children. At weekly parenting classes that meet in a church sunday school room on wensday night.

A WIC Breast feeding coach teaches new mothers how to breast feed their babies.

A gymnastics coach teaches gymnastics.

A career coach teaches skills needed for specific carreers - secretary, military, teacher, actress, actors, chefs,

A Life coach teaches people to be self sufficiant - how to shop for groceries, take care of a home, keep a bank book, get along with others, Socializing skills, anything that will help the person have a more productive and calm lifestyle.

Therapists are certified and or licensed to work with mental disorders, family problems, marriage problems and so on. a whole bunch of things.

A coach works on one specific area of expertise and does not have to be certified or licensed.

How can coaches be used instead of trama therapists? take someone who has lived through a house fire - they now have to learn how to manage with any number of special aids in order to function and have a calm and productive life. I know many people who have had PTSD from going through car accidents and fires and instead of therapy they just needed to know how to drive again or cook on a gas stove again. once they accomplished that they were no longer afraid and suffering the PTSD sympyoms of panic from feeling helpless.

I had PTSD symptoms because i got hit by a car. Instead of sitting there in therapy talking about my fears and so on arround the accident I did something about it - A friend and I went up to the local department store and the two of us spent the day biking around town with her coaching me through the times when I had to enter traffic on my bike.

Yea I could have taken a bus for months and talked my fears over with my therapist, while sitting in a room but the way I did it - by having someone right there coaching me through the hard spots right as they happened, I was able to get back to my normal independant funtionality right away, instead of taking months to get the courage to get on a bike again I was biking alone a week after the accident.

Sometimes coaching has better results then therapy when it comes to some problems.