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Health coach vs therapist

The differences between health coaches and therapists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a therapist has an average salary of $55,943, which is higher than the $38,671 average annual salary of a health coach.

The top three skills for a health coach include customer service, patients and optimal health. The most important skills for a therapist are social work, patients, and group therapy sessions.

Health coach vs therapist overview

Health CoachTherapist
Yearly salary$38,671$55,943
Hourly rate$18.59$26.90
Growth rate12%17%
Number of jobs63,129159,770
Job satisfaction-5
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 64%Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age4341
Years of experience4-

What does a health coach do?

A Health Coach is an individual health educator who provides lifestyle and behavior guidance. They work with clients to help them feel their best through food and lifestyle changes.

What does a therapist do?

A therapist is responsible for improving the patients' health conditions by evaluating their needs and providing physical and mental support. Therapists are licensed, medical professionals who specialize in different areas to perform treatments and bring relief to patients. Some of their duties include diagnosing patient's problems, performing counseling services, monitoring medication progress, customizing therapy activities for pain management, and consulting other health professionals as needed. Therapists must have extensive knowledge with the medical industry to detect patients' conditions easily and provide effective medications.

Health coach vs therapist salary

Health coaches and therapists have different pay scales, as shown below.

Health CoachTherapist
Average salary$38,671$55,943
Salary rangeBetween $26,000 And $55,000Between $39,000 And $80,000
Highest paying CityEureka, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateAlaskaCalifornia
Best paying companyMassachusetts General HospitalChildhelp
Best paying industryHealth CareGovernment

Differences between health coach and therapist education

There are a few differences between a health coach and a therapist in terms of educational background:

Health CoachTherapist
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 64%Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common majorNursingPsychology
Most common collegeUniversity of Minnesota - Twin CitiesCalifornia State University - Long Beach

Health coach vs therapist demographics

Here are the differences between health coaches' and therapists' demographics:

Health CoachTherapist
Average age4341
Gender ratioMale, 20.9% Female, 79.1%Male, 24.4% Female, 75.6%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 8.6% Unknown, 6.4% Hispanic or Latino, 17.2% Asian, 6.2% White, 60.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%Black or African American, 4.0% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 11.3% White, 72.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage21%12%

Differences between health coach and therapist duties and responsibilities

Health coach example responsibilities.

  • Participate in workshops and offer lectures on various health topics, aim toward prevention and management of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
  • Motivate staff to participate in lunch time yoga and strength training exercises as well as cooking demos and office nutrition trivia.
  • Promote, educate and assist individuals in health management including diabetes management, nutrition, stress management and tobacco cessation.
  • Obtain CPR certification before the summer program begin.
  • Maintain and control all hippa-relate patient documentation via EMR.
  • Perform all job duties in compliance with HIPAA guidelines and company confidentiality policies.
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Therapist example responsibilities.

  • Manage ventilator and BiPAP's and create or update care plans per patient needs.
  • Demonstrate working knowledge of community mental health services identify in the Medicaid guidelines and attain contractual outcomes within designate time frames.
  • Provide on-call crisis intervention as well as standard treatment, rehabilitation and support services with some interventions requiring specialize therapy services.
  • Develop and implement an effective curriculum of DBT inform group and art therapy classes specifically tailor for chemically dependent patients.
  • Provide trauma-inform individual psychotherapy, TREM group treatment protocol, and EMDR.
  • Utilize current brain base therapeutic techniques to teach clients adaptive skills to utilize in daily lives.
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Health coach vs therapist skills

Common health coach skills
  • Customer Service, 15%
  • Patients, 13%
  • Optimal Health, 11%
  • Disease Management, 6%
  • Ongoing Support, 5%
  • Nutrition Education, 5%
Common therapist skills
  • Social Work, 23%
  • Patients, 12%
  • Group Therapy Sessions, 8%
  • Crisis Intervention, 7%
  • Mental Health, 4%
  • Patient Care, 3%

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