Matthew Bridgman, PhD, ABPP
Board Certified Clinical Neuropsychologist
Coaching and Psychotherapy Services
Coaching vs. Psychotherapy - What's the difference?
Psychotherapy is a service of treatment for one or more mental disorders, diagnosed by the provider, with symptoms that are causing “functional impairment” (symptoms are severe enough to prevent adequate functioning in areas of life). This is typically covered by health insurance and has to meet a standard of being “medically necessary”
Coaching is a service addressing symptoms sufficiently bothersome to clients that they desire guidance and support in addressing them, but the symptoms are not so severe as to cause “functional impairment”. These clients are still capable of working and functioning in life, just not at the level that they desire. These symptoms typically do not meet a standard for treatment to be considered “medically necessary” (in other words, these clients do not have a diagnosable disorder that requires “treatment”), and therefore these services are typically not covered by health insurance.
There are of course many other similarities and differences between psychotherapy and coaching. The article linked below provides more detail.
How do I know which to choose?
Psychotherapy might be for you if:
- you already have a diagnosed mental health disorder that is causing a lot of trouble in life, and you desire treatment for it
or
- you have never been diagnosed with a mental health disorder, but you think you may have one and you desire an evaluation to find out, and this is for the purpose of treatment*
A few examples of mental health disorders include:
- Major depressive disorder
- Generalized anxiety disorder
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Panic disorder
- Bipolar disorder
There are many others. Your health insurance company should have a list of disorders for which they will cover treatment.
* Please note, such evaluations with Dr. Bridgman are for the purpose of establishing and guiding treatment. He is not currently providing evaluations and diagnoses for the purpose of legal proceedings/court cases, or for academic accommodations.
Coaching might be for you if:
You are having trouble with memory, cognition, or moods/emotions and desire guidance to optimize your cognitive and emotional health, to perform better at work and in life, and you don't have a formal mental health diagnosis.
Next Steps
If you are interested in psychotherapy, Dr. Bridgman provides psychotherapy through the GrowTherapy platform.
You can review his profile, check your insurance, and schedule a session using the link below.
If you are interested in coaching, you can access Dr. Bridgman's calendar to schedule a session using the link below.
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