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What is a Mental Health Coach?

“The word “coach” may evoke images of a friendly teacher who ran you through drills during high school soccer practice, a life coach who helps inspire clients to reach their goals, or a career coach focused on work-related challenges. Mental health coaches are also trusted partners who can help you achieve goals, but they focus on emotional health and wellness.

So, what is a mental health coach? They’re specially trained professionals who help people develop greater self-awareness, implement tools to better manage their lives, and pursue specific mental health goals. Coaches can help people with a range of conditions, from stress, burnout, and anxiety to those who need support through life transitions, tough feelings like anger, or relationship issues. Mental health coaching is designed to get you back on track when you’re feeling stuck and help you create a more rewarding life.

Much like therapists, behavioral health coaches listen deeply to their clients to gain an understanding of their personal needs, challenges, and hopes. Based on each client’s particular set of circumstances, mental health coaches also do the following:

  • Ask questions that help people see things from a different perspective and open up to changes that’ll improve their lives
  • Introduce new perspectives and skills. Mental wellness coaches help people develop skills to help them overcome obstacles they may be facing. They also provide a fresh perspective to help their clients reframe thinking patterns, better manage emotions, and address problems more effectively.
  • Identify personal strengths. People learn to embrace their strengths as well as practice self-compassion and acceptance.
  • Improve relationship skills
  • Help clients design actions to facilitate behavior change and hold them accountable for putting them into practice. Clients rarely leave a behavioral health coaching session without establishing a personal practice to complete before their next session. This could mean a journaling exercise to clarify their values and goals, a new technique to try when emotions get the best of them, or another meaningful “homework” assignment designed to propel their transformation.”

-Matthew Boone, LCSW (What is a Mental Health Coach – 2023 Article)