For a long time, Mr Alex Ng found conversations with his family upsetting, even when it was over a topic as innocuous as food.
“When I spoke to my parents, I got frustrated, and they responded in the same way. I wanted to find a way to manage my triggers better so that our communication could be more productive,” the 44-year-old business manager said.
Since his company offered free access to life coaching services, Mr Ng decided to give it a try.
Having gone through therapy in 2021 to tackle a different issue, he expected a similar experience at his first life coaching session the following year.
However, when comparing the two experiences, he found that while his therapist had helped him resolve past trauma and looked at the root of his problems, the life coach was more “future-focused”, helping him to widen his perspective on issues and work on his future goals.
He now engages his life coach once a week to work on various aspects of his life such as personal growth and work-related matters.
Acknowledging that conversations with his family now can still be emotionally charged at times, Mr Ng said that he has seen progress and that the confrontations are less intense.
“Of course, as I continue doing the work, new things may come up. But now, I’m more aware of my triggers … I can then influence the outcome rather than just going with the flow or reacting instinctively,” he added.
FINE LINE BETWEEN LIFE COACHING AND THERAPY
Like Mr Ng, some people have turned to life coaching to deal with issues in their lives and although life coaching can sound similar to counselling or therapy and may have overlapping areas of focus, life coaches who spoke to CNA TODAY said that there are some clear distinctions.
Generally, psychologists address clinically diagnosed mental conditions such as depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Therapists typically work with clients on past experiences, which may hinder growth when unresolved issues resurface.
Life coaches focus more on helping clients move forward and achieve their goals.
Using an analogy, life coach Joel Tan explained that it is similar to seeing a doctor, a fitness instructor or a physiotherapist. These experts understand the human anatomy, but they apply it in different ways and work with different groups.
Mr Tan, who is also the founder of coaching firm Upraise, said: “For example, if you go to a doctor, they attend to the sick, not the healthy. The same goes for a physiotherapist – they work with the injured.
“But if you go to a personal trainer, they focus on the healthy person who wants to get stronger or reach the next level.
“In parallel, psychologists and therapists work with those who are more ‘wounded’, while life coaches tend to focus on ‘healthier’, higher-performing individuals, helping them reach the next level.”
