“My therapist says I struggle with change.”

“I was going to do nothing this weekend, but my life coach has set me some homework…”

“Roger has been encouraging me to get outside my comfort zone.”

If messages like these have been appearing with greater frequency in your group chats recently, you’re not the only one. More and more of us seem to be getting on the self-improvement bandwagon, with our therapists and life coaches becoming auxiliary members of our supportive circles. Collectively, we seem more clued up and open about our mental health than we’ve ever been before. According to a survey conducted by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy last year, nearly a third of people in the UK spoke to a therapist between 2023–2024. Life coaching has also surged in popularity, with the estimated number of coach practitioners reaching 109,200 in 2022 – a 54% increase from the 2019 estimate.

“Therapy and coaching have moved from taboo and unusual to normal because we’ve realised we need support that goes deeper than a podcast and more personal than a to-do list,” says author and psychotherapist Charlotte Fox Weber. “It’s become stylish to be emotionally literate – and that’s not a bad thing.”

But while we seem keener than ever to seek help, how do we know exactly what type of support we need? How can you tell if you should be going for a traditional therapist or speaking to a life coach instead?

Therapy or life coaching? How to know which option is the right route for you