Coaching or Therapy? How to Choose When Work Wears You Down

Abstract

This article is about a choice many working people face: coaching or therapy. Three pieces of research bear on the coaching side of it. A meta-analysis (Theeboom, Beersma and van Vianen, 2014) found positive effects of coaching on five kinds of outcome in working people. A second meta-analysis (Jones, Woods and Guillaume, 2016) found smaller to moderate effects, and found that format and duration did not explain the differences. A randomised controlled study of 41 executives (Grant, Curtayne and Burton, 2009) found better goal attainment and well-being, and less depression and stress, after a coaching programme. None of these compared coaching with therapy, and none studied people with a diagnosed condition. This site is run by a coach, so read the comparison with that in mind. The three steps at the end are practical readings, not tested methods, and this article is not medical advice.

Eleven at night, two tabs open

You have two tabs open. One is a coach's page and the other is a therapist's directory. Work has been wearing you down for months, and you cannot tell which of the two is the right door.

You also suspect that the question is badly put. You are not sure what you would be asking either of them to do.

Coaching or therapy: what is the evidence?

The research cited here cannot settle whether you should choose coaching or therapy. It covers what coaching does for working people, measured in studies of employees and executives. It does not cover therapy at all, and it does not compare the two. The next three sections cover what each study found. None of them tested the three steps at the end.

What a meta-analysis of workplace coaching found

Theeboom, Beersma and van Vianen (2014) combined studies of coaching within organisations. They looked at five kinds of outcome: performance and skills, well-being, coping, work attitudes, and goal-directed self-regulation.

Coaching had positive effects on all five, with effect sizes from g = 0.43 to g = 0.74. The authors conclude that coaching is effective for these outcomes. This is summarised from the published abstract.

Read the idea of getting coaching through this. In studies of working people, coaching went with better coping, well-being and self-regulation. This is an inference. The outcomes were work-related and measured in employees, so the result says nothing about whether coaching suits you better than treatment.

What a second meta-analysis found about size and conditions

Jones, Woods and Guillaume (2016) analysed 17 studies of workplace coaching. The average effects were 0.36 for organisational outcomes, 0.28 for skills and 0.51 for affective outcomes.

Coaching by internal coaches had stronger effects than coaching by external coaches. Coaching that included multisource feedback was associated with smaller effects. The format of the coaching and its duration did not explain the differences. This is summarised from the published abstract.

Read the size of the effects through this. The averages are small to moderate, and they vary with how the coaching is run. This is an inference. Seventeen studies is a modest base for comparing different ways of running coaching.

What a randomised study of executives found

Grant, Curtayne and Burton (2009) randomly assigned 41 executives in a public health agency to a coaching programme or a control group. The programme combined 360 degree feedback, a half-day leadership workshop and four individual coaching sessions over ten weeks.

Compared with the control group, the coached executives improved on goal attainment, resilience and workplace well-being, and had less depression and stress. The executives were not a clinical population. The abstract gives no effect sizes. This is summarised from the published abstract.

Read the reduction in stress through this. A short programme was followed by lower stress and depression scores in a small group of working executives. This is an inference. It does not show that coaching treats depression, and it does not show that coaching works for people who are already unwell.

Coaching or therapy: three steps

None of these is a tested method, and none was studied in finance teams. They combine what the research points to with ordinary practice. Where a step goes beyond the research, it says so.

1. Write down what you want to be different, and how long it has been like this. Coaching studies measured work patterns and work outcomes. If what you describe is a work pattern, coaching is in range. If it is a lasting change in sleep, mood or anxiety, it belongs with a doctor first. This is a judgement, and no study cited here tested this step. For instance: "I want to stop saying yes to everything" is a work pattern. "I have not slept properly for six weeks" is a symptom.

2. If your list includes symptoms, start with a doctor or a qualified mental health professional. The studies cited here do not show that coaching treats symptoms, and the executives in the randomised study were not a clinical population. You can add coaching later. This is a judgement, and no study cited here tested this step. For instance: "I will book an appointment with my doctor this week and decide about coaching afterwards."

3. Ask any provider what they do, what they do not do, and when you will review. The meta-analyses found that effects vary with how coaching is run, so a plan matters. Agree a point to check whether the thing you came for has moved. This is a judgement, and no study cited here tested this step. For instance: "After four sessions we look at whether my goal has moved, and decide whether to continue."

If perfectionism is part of the picture, Perfectionism at Work: When High Standards Start to Cost You looks at that. For the wider picture of exhaustion, there is Burnout in Finance: Why High Performers Hit the Wall. If time off has not helped, see Does a Holiday Cure Burnout? Why the Relief Fades So Fast. When the load comes with the role, Finance Director Stress: Where the Pressure Comes From goes into that. And Why High Performers Cannot Think Their Way Out of Burnout is about trying to solve it alone.

Questions People Ask

Is coaching the same as therapy?

No. Coaching is educational support for work patterns. Therapy is treatment delivered by a qualified clinician. The research cited here is about coaching in working people, and it does not compare the two.

Can coaching help with burnout?

The studies cited here measured stress, resilience and well-being in employees and executives, and found improvements after coaching. They do not show that coaching treats burnout. If you have symptoms, see a doctor or a qualified mental health professional first.

Do I have to choose one?

The studies cited here did not test coaching and therapy together. If you are already in treatment, tell your clinician before you start coaching, and ask how they see the two fitting together. That is a judgement, not a research finding.

How will I know whether coaching is working?

Agree a goal and a review point at the start. The randomised study measured goal attainment, and the meta-analyses found that effects differ with how coaching is run, so a review point lets you check the fit for yourself.

When it is more than a hard stretch at work

A hard stretch is one thing. It is more when you feel numb, persistently low or anxious, when you cannot sleep, when you cannot concentrate for weeks, or when you notice physical symptoms. In those cases talk to your doctor, your occupational health service or a qualified mental health professional. If you ever think about harming yourself, contact emergency services or a crisis line in your country at once. This article is not medical advice. Coaching is educational support for work patterns. It is not treatment and not a substitute for it.

Sources

• Theeboom, T., Beersma, B., & van Vianen, A. E. M. (2014). Does coaching work? A meta-analysis on the effects of coaching on individual level outcomes in an organizational context. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 9(1), 1–18. DOI: 10.1080/17439760.2013.837499 (Summarised from the published abstract.)

• Jones, R. J., Woods, S. A., & Guillaume, Y. R. F. (2016). The effectiveness of workplace coaching: A meta-analysis of learning and performance outcomes from coaching. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 89(2), 249–277. DOI: 10.1111/joop.12119 (Summarised from the published abstract.)

• Grant, A. M., Curtayne, L., & Burton, G. (2009). Executive coaching enhances goal attainment, resilience and workplace well-being: A randomised controlled study. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4(5), 396–407. DOI: 10.1080/17439760902992456 (Summarised from the published abstract.)