What Is The Difference Between a Coach and a Therapist?

In the world of self-help/wellness, there are two categories to support your mental health:

Category 1 includes: Therapists, Counsellors, Psychologists

Category 2 includes: Coaches, Mentors or Consultants

As someone who has training in both worlds, I'll do my best to articulate the difference between both for you and share the benefits of knowing your options.

Therapy is for those who want to unpack their past hurts and wounds, process emotions and have space held for them. Sadly, therapy can sometimes be a never-ending loop of crisis regulation rather than any goal setting or momentum forward. I have heard many clients share stories with me about how they quit therapy when they started to "feel good" because their therapist didn't guide them to understand what could truly support them in improving their life...

So what ends up happening is a loop of crisis —> receive support —> emotional regulation --> Stop therapy —> Back to therapy when a crisis arises again. This is how people stay STUCK.

What most don't realize is that there are a few steps missing in the healing process and this is where coaching comes into play,

Start with a crisis and/or realize you want to make a change in your life—> receive support —> emotional regulation --> set goals —> learn new ways to reach goals —> receive accountability — >change your life!

This is why working with a therapist who is trained in coaching a well can truly support ALL your needs.

For me, my goal is never to keep clients seeing me for years and years. My goal is to always propel them forward and empower them to live the life of their dreams!

And this is why I personally have chosen to switch from therapist to coach. For me and my practice, it is much more in alignment with my values. I have heard horror stories of other counsellors and therapists simply listing to clients vent for 1 hr and then giving zero guidance or tools to cope while seeing them for years and years with zero changes made. This is all too common, which is why many therapists themselves are burnt out and are unable to provide grounded support.

The additional piece that should be noted is that anyone with letters behind their name (most therapists have this) practices under a governing body and abides by their code of ethics. This, though many assume, is NOT indicative of how qualified someone is to support you. ALWAYS TRUST YOUR GUT when you're deciding who to work with. However, coaches are not regulated and can sometimes do more harm than good, if not qualified to support a client through trauma, for example, or if they don't understand their scope of practice and are leary to refer their clients to others.

I personally have created coaching programs that mix therapy tools and trauma support alongside coaching strategies that time and time again have proven to support many of my clients. I do not have one set plan for every single person I work with as much of my work is curated for the client and their specific needs.

All of my training as a therapist and coach has supported me in being client centred, which means that YOU drive the car but I hold the map. I am in the passenger seat and I know where we are going but I empower you with the gas and the breaks. As a coach, I am here to guide you and empower you to find your answers while teaching you tools to keep you on your path.

Now if you've ever questioned the heck is coaching so much more expensive than therapy, let me tell you from personal experience- coaching is WAY more involved with the client relationship in between sessions, coaching requires marketing, promoting, social media, content creation, course creation, and many many more behind the scenes admin components that traditional therapists do not need to do.

On top of this coaching WILL get you to where you want to go. When we work together you and I BOTH have the same goal and so you will most certainly experience change if you dedicate your time and energy towards YOURSELF and your journey. Successful people have coaches in their corner.

I want to also mention that coaching is not just for businesses. In fact, most of what I support my clients with is emotional tools, relationships, and spiritual components alongside learning how to find their authentic voice.

Don’t worry if you’re not sure what your goals are, the goal can simply be “I want to enhance my life” or I” want to grow.” These are perfect starting points and it is my job to inquire as to what areas in life aren’t working for you and see how we can make you feel more at ease as you step into your power.

Are you curious to learn more about how we can work together?

I work with female clients and couples and I do Human Design Readings.

Check out my services page for more details.

And if you’re wondering what the right path for you is, do I see a therapist or coach? I strongly invite you to ask questions to your coach, ask them what their training is and see if it can support your needs. If you want to work through your childhood, relationships or any trauma then you will want to find a coach or therapist, both of who are trauma-informed.

I hope this helps you in understanding further what your needs are!

Feel free to comment below if you’ve got any questions.

What is Human Design & How You Can Get Your Chart

Human Design, for me, has helped me find my inner-most zone of genius & alignment. It helps me know how to make decisions, it helps me understand how I show up in this world to others, and for myself and it shows me my purpose in life. It's ultimately helped me give myself full permission to be ME; like those instinctual things I did as a child that I was conditioned to believe are wrong or bad are actually WHO I AM.

Human Design is a channelled modality from Ra Uru Hu in the 80s that focuses on the science of differentiation. In its most profound form, it includes inspiration from Kabbalah, Astrology, Energetics, and Chakras. NO TWO CHARTS are the same unless, of course, you have a twin...and in these cases, it is still fascinating how conditioning plays a part in how each person shows up differently.

Human Design also talks greatly about how we interact and influence each other, which, to me is one of the most fascinating components. For example, when a Generator is feeling lit up, excited or joyful about something, likely ANYONE who is around them will be magnetized to those feelings and want to be a part of it too or feel that same buzz of excitement!

There are a few key components that you want to understand in your chart when beginning to understand Human Design:

• Your Type (example: Generator, Projector, Manifesting Generator, Manifestor or reflector)

• Your Authority (example: Sacral, Splenic, Emotional, Ego, Mental, Self-Projected or Lunar Authority)

• Your Strategy (example: To Respond, To be Invited, To Initiate, To Wait)

• Your Profile Lines (example: 1/3, 1/4, 2/4 etc...)

Once you understand how these parts of you operate and how living your life by these components FEELS in your body, part two would be looking at your definition, your defined and undefined centers, alongside understanding some of your main channels.

And once THIS portion is understood we would look at your gates, what astrological sign they're attached to and their meaning alongside the lines that influence them.

And once THIS portion is understood then we could look at your ideal environment, how you digest life & food, your variables and compare your chart to others in your life...

As you can see, this is an incredibly deep and complex modality!

If you want to learn more about your chart the two sites I trust MOST and that use the original language of HD are:

https://jovianarchive.com › Get_Your_Chart

https://www.geneticmatrix.com

*Note you need to know your exact birth time and place. If you do not know but have a general idea if it's morning or evening, work with someone who knows HD who can ask you questions to see which chart feels more like yourself. When you aren't FOR SURE there are some really deep components that you may not get to, but you can for sure understand the main aspects, don't worry!

There are a lot of people out there on social media talking like experts or using different types of training so I would suggest you TRUST yourself with this and look at multiple different people or platforms to understand the layers of your chart. For example, I have textbooks by Ra Uru Hu himself, some by Karen Curry Parker and some by Chetan Parkyn. These 3 tend to be the most popular, however, Karen Curry Parker has modified the lingo and she teaches a different style. I look at all the books (yes even Gene Keys too) and notice patterns. It has taken me over 4 years of on-and-off study to start to talk about this publicly, and I swear, to this day, I STILL learn new things about my chart!

If you want suggestions on Human Design Experts to follow on Instagram (other than me!) comment below and I'll share with you.

And most importantly, if you want a Foundational Human Design reading and you are not a current client of mine, you can book here: www.rachelekehler.com/contact

My Favourite Inner Child Meditations

Your inner child is a part of yourself that is deeply connected to your heart, your soul and your nervous system. Some even say your higher self is your inner child.

Reconnecting with your inner child is an integral part of the healing journey because most of what we are triggered by today is something that imprinted and created an impact in childhood. (Trigger: a thought that creates a feeling, or the feeling that triggered thoughts either way something that switches on fight or flight mode and activates your nervous system.)

Did you know that for the first 8 or so years of your life you're filtering every single experience through the lens of emotions?

Your logic center in your brain only starts to develop after 8 years old and doesn't finish until 25years. This is why it's so important to realize that all children are empathic beings, highly sensitive to their surroundings because everything is filtered through feelings...

For example, a 5-year-old child is angry that their Dad has to go to work on Saturday after they had plans to go to the park together. Instead of telling dad, she is angry, she acts out and hits her little brother. Then, Dad punishes her for hitting her brother and sends her to her room. When she is in her room she doesn't have anyone to help her understand her emotions (no logic) so she implants the belief "When I get scared and feel angry, I will be abandoned. That means my anger is bad which means I am bad." This in turn triggered pleasing tendencies in hopes of never getting abandoned again. (This can be shifted IF a parent comes into the room and calmly asks questions and invites the child to express their feelings and help them understand that their emotions are bad but the behaviour they exhibited was...this closes the loop and eliminates any trauma.)

Now, let's be honest, sometimes when you start to do inner child work it can feel like e"get mad at how terrible my parents were and blame them for my problems..." kinda work. Let me clarify- it is NOT that. Your parents likely did the best of their capacity AND I am not excusing abusive behaviour but intentionally empowering and re-parenting that inner child within. Humans raising humans, no one is perfect and each child perceives experiences in their own unique way!

With this baseline knowledge, here are. a few of my favourite inner child meditations....stay tuned for updates as I plan to record some inner child meditations for you and share them here or on social media.

This first one is hypnosis, not a meditation. If you fall asleep this is ok. It's longer and gets into your subconscious. The rest are guided mediations that require some visualization.

It is important that after you do a meditation you support your inner child. Ask your body and heart what they would like to do- and DO IT. Post mediation is a great time to do an activity that connects you to this part of yourself.

If you notice lots of emotions come up and want some one-on-one support the help you reconnect to yourself, feel free to message me on how we can work together. You are so worth it.