Should I get talk therapy or life coaching?

[thenondualtankie]

Lately I've been living alone and depression and loneliness has ramped up for me. Which is a shame because that's the exact opposite of what I need for my main goal in life at the moment, which is to do a lot of socialising and pickup - the depression really gets in the way of that.

Therefore I've been thinking about doing talk therapy. What are you guys' thoughts and experiences with talk therapy?

And should I do talk therapy or life coaching? From my understanding, therapy is more about going from dysfunctional to functional, whereas coaching is more about going from functional to mastery. I'm definitely in the first case for now LOL.

 

[puporing]

Depends on what kind of "depression" you have.. so from my perspective there's a kind of depression that will help you awaken, but society will try to dissuade you from it with their "fixes". I'm speaking from experience because I've tried many things about my depression before but it ultimately never went away and is actually for a metaphysical reason with your true self. So anyway if you're depressed you could be closer to Christ consciousness. But unfortunately the mainstream view is to dissociate it or that it's a problem.

I'm saying that your higher mind is suffering. So those fixes are actually going to push you away from awaking further or you could say away from the truth..

Aside from that it was sometimes okay for me to connect with a therapist for some relief if I really need to tell someone about something. Just watch out that there are also some ones who try to manipulate you too and I've had that too. Because it's their "livelihood" some will try to keep you around even though they aren't being very helpful.. or worse just a complete actor telling you what you want to hear..

Edited July 19 by puporing

[DianaFr]

In general, talk therapy is a more reflective and introspective type of intervention which is better suited for dealing with mental health issues. Coaching is more goal oriented, fast-paced and specific. However, the boundaries between the two are blurred since the methods often overlap and different practitioners have different work styles. I love both of them but I would personally seek out coaching if I wanted to clarify my goals, draft up a strategy and have someone to challenge me and keep me accountable as I move closer to my goal. I would see a therapist for emotional and personality-related issues. If you would like to primarily focus on your depression and loneliness, therapy seems to be a better option, since most coaches are not qualified to deal with mental health issues of this magnitude. If active socialization is your main priority, coaching could make if more effective. But check the certification and experience of the person you consider working with, since they could have mixed background and/or specialize on cases like yours, e.g. a psychotherapist by education working as a dating coach etc.