---
title: "What Is a Coach? What Coaching Is and What It Is Not"
description: "What a coach is, what coaching is not (training, therapy, consulting, mentoring) and how to tell what you are being sold."
url: https://www.happinessplay.com/blog/what-is-a-coach
date: 2011-05-24
modified: 2026-10-17
image: https://www.happinessplay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/what-is-a-coach.webp
categories: ["Post"]
tags: ["Best coaching posts", "coaching", "What is coaching"]
type: post
lang: en
---

# What Is a Coach? What Coaching Is and What It Is Not

“What is a coach?” is a very common question, and the answer is simple: a coach is a person who does coaching. Coaching, in general, is **a process or method that helps people get things done (call them dreams, goals or objectives)**.

Now that we know what a coach is, how do you become one, and where do you study coaching? Since almost everyone calls themselves a coach these days, it helps to say first what coaching is not.

## What coaching is not

| Coaching is not… | Because… |
| --- | --- |
| Training | A trainer teaches a skill. A coach asks questions so you find your own answers. |
| Therapy (psychology or psychiatry) | Therapy treats difficulties of the mind. Coaching looks at where you want to go. |
| Consulting | A consultant gives expert solutions. A coach does not hand out the solution. |
| Mentoring | A mentor shares their experience. A coach does not need to have walked your road. |

If someone offers you any of these, bear in mind that you are not being sold pure coaching. **You are being sold some other service mixed with coaching.** It is like buying a strawberry yoghurt and being told it is strawberries: everyone knows there is more yoghurt than strawberries. That is life, but it is good to know.

> Be careful: a lot of yoghurt is sold at strawberry prices.

## How to tell what you are being offered

- **Ask how a session works.** In coaching, most of the talking should be yours, and the coach mostly asks questions.
- **Ask what the first goal would be.** A coach works towards something you define, not a programme they own.
- **Check whether they have lived it.** A coach who has been through a good coaching process explains it better. See [how to explain what coaching is](https://www.happinessplay.com/blog/how-to-explain-what-coaching-is).

## Next steps

Now that you know what a coach is, see examples of our work in the [best coaching exercises and tools](https://www.happinessplay.com/blog/coaching-tools). Unfamiliar words? The [coaching glossary](https://www.happinessplay.com/blog/coaching-terms-glossary) explains them, and the [12 good coaching conversations](https://www.happinessplay.com/blog/12-good-coaching-conversations) show what a session looks like.

## Try coaching on yourself

You do not need a coach to start. Pick an area of your life:

[![Professional wheel of life: work coaching exercise](https://www.happinessplay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/professional-wheel-of-life.webp)Work wheel](https://www.happinessplay.com/blog/professional-wheel-of-life)

[![Family and friends wheel: family coaching exercise](https://www.happinessplay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/family-and-friends-wheel-coaching-exercise.webp?v=20261017)Family and friends wheel](https://www.happinessplay.com/blog/family-and-friends-wheel-coaching-exercise)

[![Health wheel: health coaching exercise](https://www.happinessplay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/health-wheel-health-coaching-exercise.webp?v=20261017)Health wheel](https://www.happinessplay.com/blog/health-wheel-health-coaching-exercise)

[![Love wheel: couples coaching exercise](https://www.happinessplay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/love-wheel-couples-coaching-exercise.webp)Love wheel](https://www.happinessplay.com/blog/love-wheel-couples-coaching-exercise)

[![Money wheel: financial coaching exercise](https://www.happinessplay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/money-wheel-financial-coaching-exercise.webp)Money wheel](https://www.happinessplay.com/blog/money-wheel-financial-coaching-exercise)

[![Home wheel: house coaching exercise](https://www.happinessplay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/home-wheel-house-coaching-exercise.webp)Home wheel](https://www.happinessplay.com/blog/home-wheel-house-coaching-exercise)

[![Leisure wheel: free time coaching exercise](https://www.happinessplay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/leisure-wheel-free-time-coaching-exercise.webp?v=20261017)Leisure wheel](https://www.happinessplay.com/blog/leisure-wheel-free-time-coaching-exercise)

[![Personal growth wheel: personal development coaching](https://www.happinessplay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/personal-growth-wheel-coaching-exercise.webp?v=20261017)Personal growth wheel](https://www.happinessplay.com/blog/personal-growth-wheel-coaching-exercise)