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Wellness coach vs therapist

The differences between wellness 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 $40,248 average annual salary of a wellness coach.

The top three skills for a wellness coach include CPR, health education and rehabilitation. The most important skills for a therapist are social work, patients, and group therapy sessions.

Wellness coach vs therapist overview

Wellness CoachTherapist
Yearly salary$40,248$55,943
Hourly rate$19.35$26.90
Growth rate12%17%
Number of jobs21,963159,770
Job satisfaction-5
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 67%Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age4741
Years of experience--

What does a wellness coach do?

A wellness coach is responsible for guiding clients on their fitness and health objectives, mentoring them on activities for a healthy lifestyle, and creating customized wellness plans to manage their developmental conditions. Wellness coaches conduct counseling sessions to listen to the clients' issues, including their stress, practices, meal plans, and other daily lifestyle activities. They also plan and suggest activities for the clients while observing their behaviors and create instructional guides to sustain a positive emotional and mental perspective.

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.

Wellness coach vs therapist salary

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

Wellness CoachTherapist
Average salary$40,248$55,943
Salary rangeBetween $25,000 And $62,000Between $39,000 And $80,000
Highest paying CityRichmond, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateAlaskaCalifornia
Best paying companyStanford UniversityChildhelp
Best paying industryFinanceGovernment

Differences between wellness coach and therapist education

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

Wellness CoachTherapist
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 67%Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common majorKinesiologyPsychology
Most common collegeUniversity of Michigan - Ann ArborCalifornia State University - Long Beach

Wellness coach vs therapist demographics

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

Wellness CoachTherapist
Average age4741
Gender ratioMale, 34.2% Female, 65.8%Male, 24.4% Female, 75.6%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.3% Asian, 4.4% White, 66.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%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 Percentage16%12%

Differences between wellness coach and therapist duties and responsibilities

Wellness coach example responsibilities.

  • Provide market research and generate leads using social media (facebook) in order to target prospective clients.
  • Develop nutritional classes and provide some exercises for patients with diabetes, cholesterol, hypertension and obesity.
  • Front desk liason for clients, aid in booking and rescheduling appointments, suggesting additional services.
  • Aid patients with EKG setup, monitoring of blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen levels during exercise.
  • Calibrate EKG strips and transfer client data such as maximum blood pressure, heart rate, workload, and perceive exertion.
  • Teach TRX classes, abs and core.
  • Show more

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.
  • Show more

Wellness coach vs therapist skills

Common wellness coach skills
  • CPR, 20%
  • Health Education, 9%
  • Rehabilitation, 8%
  • Patients, 8%
  • Health Promotion, 7%
  • Wellness Programs, 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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