Understanding Life Coaching: A Guide for Your Transformational Journey

Demystifying Life Coaching Terms

If you've started looking into life coaching, then you've probably encountered a lot of familiar words used in unfamiliar ways. When I first explored life coaching websites, I felt overwhelmed. It seemed like I should already know what I wanted to accomplish in this “container,” or that I should understand what it meant to “hold space.” Honestly? It was a turn-off.

I know now how transformational this work can be. However, I also understand how inaccessible it can feel when you're first starting out. Whether you're brand new to life coaching, returning after time away, or simply brushing up on current trends, my hope is that this glossary helps demystify some common coaching terms. This way, you can decide what kind of support feels aligned for you.

What is Life Coaching?

1. A life coach is a professional who partners with you in an intentional, creative, and thought-provoking process designed to help you reach your personal or professional goals. A coach helps you gain clarity and supports your movement toward a future version of yourself—one that feels more empowered, connected, and purposeful. Importantly, a life coach is not a therapist, a guru, or a friend with opinions. A good coach listens deeply, reflects honestly, and helps you uncover your own answers.

   
   

Types of Support: Coaching, Therapy, and Mentoring

1. Let’s break down three often-confused types of support:

   
   

• Therapy focuses on the past, healing emotional wounds, and supporting mental health. You might encounter talk therapy or modalities like CBT, DBT, EMDR, or IFS. Therapy is powerful—and I believe everyone should have access to it at some point in life.




• Coaching focuses on the future. It’s collaborative, action-oriented, and designed to help you shift your current behaviors, patterns, or mindset in order to meet meaningful goals.




• Mentoring is often focused on the present and involves receiving experience-based guidance from someone who’s already walked a similar path. Mentorship can take many forms and is determined by the mentor and mentee at the start of their relationship.

The Coaching Container Explained

1. A coaching container is a structured space—often time-bound or goal-specific—where coaching work unfolds. You usually sign up for coaching services in individual 'containers.' This could look like:

   
   

• A 1:1 coaching package (e.g., 6 weekly sessions)

• A group coaching program

• A retreat or virtual workshop series



Within the container, your coach gets to know what makes you tick: how you learn, how you process, and how you get stuck. You explore your goals together in a space designed to be safe, supportive, and growth-oriented.

Holding Space: A Key Coaching Skill

1. This term gets thrown around a lot in healing and spiritual spaces—and sometimes, it loses its power in the process. But holding space is a foundational coaching skill. It means staying fully present with someone as they process emotions or explore new ideas. It means creating a nonjudgmental, safe environment that allows insight to emerge.

   
   

   Holding space for someone does not involve trying to fix, solve, or give advice. It's about witnessing someone in their fullness and offering gentle reflection to support what’s surfacing.

   
   

The Importance of Cohorts in Group Coaching

1. In group coaching, a cohort is a group of individuals moving through the same journey together. They often start and finish at the same time and meet regularly for shared milestones or check-ins. With set times to check in or clear ways to share thoughts and experiences, cohorts provide an additional layer of peer support, momentum, and a sense of collective transformation. Not every program has one—but if you crave community, a cohort-based container might be perfect for you.

   
   

The Role of Accountability in Coaching

1. It's not uncommon for a coach to ask: “What kind of accountability will help you follow through?” Unlike therapy (where “homework” often centers on internal reflection), coaching usually involves taking action—and accountability becomes a powerful support tool. When you're ready to make serious changes in your life, you need to pull on your existing social support to really make big change happen.

   
   

   Your coach might help you identify:

• Whether you’re internally or externally motivated

• What type of check-ins work best for you

• How your existing relationships or structures can support your change



Having accountability for yourself is not about shame. It’s about honoring your own desires and taking steps that are aligned with your future self through consistent follow-through.

The Process of Integration in Transformation

1. Transformation isn’t instant—it unfolds over time. When on a transformational journey, you have to allow yourself time to integrate the new things that you're learning. When you begin shifting patterns, perspectives, or behaviors, you need time to integrate those changes. Integration might mean resting after a breakthrough, journaling between sessions, or noticing how new beliefs show up in daily life. In coaching, integration is the bridge between insight and embodied change.

   
   

Final Thoughts: Choosing the Right Support

Whether you’re seeking a life coach, therapist, mentor, or group program, it helps to know the language of the space you’re entering. The more confident you feel, the more likely you are to choose the kind of support that serves your highest growth. And if you’re not sure what’s right for you? That’s okay too. A good coach will help you start where you are.

If you’re curious about working with me—whether 1:1 or in a small group—I invite you to explore my Work With Me page or reach out for a free discovery call. I’d be honored to hold space for your next chapter.