Clearing Up 5 Common Life Coaching Misconceptions

There’s a lot of confusion out there about what coaching actually is. So let’s lay out the misconceptions and provide more clarity:

Myth #1: The coach gives you advice and tells you what to do

Truth: Real coaching isn't about handing you the answers, it's about helping you access your own answers. 

I won’t tell you how to do something, that’s not my role, and if I did, it would only distance you from your own inner authority.

Instead, coaching is a process of deep listening, powerful questioning and gentle guidance that reconnects you to your truth. You already hold the wisdom as a whole and creative individual, but sometimes it just takes the right space to hear it again.

Coaching is not: mentoring (sharing from personal experience), consulting (analyze a situation and crafting a strategy), therapy (see myth #2), only cheerleading or providing empty encouragement.

I am not a accountability partner here to push or police you. You are accountable for your own progress and transformation in this space together and I can support you as you'd like.

Myth #2: Coaching is just like therapy

Truth: Coaching and therapy are different tools for different needs. Coaching should not be given to someone in crisis.

Therapy is a clinical practice. It often focuses on mental health diagnoses, trauma resolution or integrating the past, especially when someone is navigating anxiety, depression, or unprocessed trauma that’s still very active in the nervous system.

Coaching, on the other hand, is present- and future-focused. We may explore where patterns began in childhood, but we don’t stay stuck there. Instead, we bring compassionate awareness to those parts and then move toward new choices, new stories and new ways of leading your life from the inside out.

So yes, this work is transformational. But it’s not therapy.

And if something ever arises in our sessions that feels better suited for a therapist, I will lovingly refer you to someone qualified. That’s part of holding a safe, ethical container.

Myth #3: Coaching is only for people who are struggling

Truth: Coaching is for anyone who’s ready to grow. You don’t need to hit rock bottom to want something more or different. Coaching isn’t a last resort, it’s a conscious choice to invest in your own alignment, clarity and self-directed energy. It’s for the person who knows it's time to make some changes and is ready to do the inner work to make those changes a reality.

Myth #4: Coaching is all about goals, productivity and accountability

Truth: Coaching can support your goals, but it’s also about depth, embodiment and aligned action.

Yes, you'll likely create momentum, but I hope it's in a way that honors your capacity, your rhythms and your truth. The hope is we're creating nervous system-aware, spiritually-grounded support for real sustainable transformation.

And let's be honest, sometimes the most important “goal” is slowing down enough to hear yourself think. Or setting boundaries. Or unraveling internalized beliefs that have kept you small. That progress counts, too and is in fact, often where the real transformation begins.

Myth #5: You need to have a clear goal to start

Truth: You don’t need to have it all figured out, that’s what coaching helps you do.

Some of my clients start with a whisper, a question or a feeling: Something needs to shift. I just don’t know what or how. And that desire can be more than enough to start.

When we begin working together, we’ll name an overarching intention for our time and each session will focus on a specific theme or challenge that’s alive in the moment. It’s not rigid. It’s responsive. And it’s all shaped by you.

If you're still wondering if coaching is for you?

Let’s talk. Book a free call and we’ll explore it together. No pressure, but let's chat with the goal to give you more clarity.

Also, check out this other article: Do I Need A Life Coach? Discover Ways a Life Coach Can Support You