Coaching is a developmental process that helps people achieve their goals by providing guidance and training. It's a creative and thought-provoking process that focuses on helping clients maximize their potential. Therapy is a clinical intervention and/or treatment of mental health conditions/disorders.

A good example of the difference can be seen in the Response to Intervention model used in education. There are three levels:

1: the extra support everyone has access to such as looking up extra resources online or going to the library

2: additional support provided to an individual based on where they are struggling such as an extra math worksheet from the teacher or seeking additional help after school

3: clinical support involving diagnostic tests and intervention strategies planned by specialists

Steps 1 and 2 are both attempted before a student is escalated to step 3, which would qualify as special education. For mental health, there has not be a step 2 for a very long time. Everyone can seek support from friends or download a mindfulness app, but if that wasn't enough our only answer was therapy, which is step 3. Coaching is step 2 for mental health support.