May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and there’s no better time to delve into conversations around what we might need now and how to get it. 

In a climate where we’re still fighting stigmas around mental health and needing specialized care, finding help can feel daunting. Do you need a therapist? A coach? Maybe both? Understanding which one fits can save time, money, and unnecessary frustration. By the time we decide we need help, it’s easy to miss the details, like the credentials of your counselor, for starters. 

The appeal of coaching is easy to understand. Coaches typically focus on goals, routines, accountability, and helping push you forward, while therapists are trained to diagnose and treat mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression, trauma, and grief. That split is important because coaching can be useful for motivation and structure, but it is not a substitute for clinical care when someone is struggling with deeper emotional or psychological challenges.

Health experts say the demand for both reflects a larger reality: many people want support that feels accessible, practical, and human. Health coaching is a $7.6 billion market in the U.S, emboldened by the wellness economy, social media, and shortages in mental health care, NPR shares. While therapists remain bound by licensing rules, supervised training, and professional ethics designed to protect clients.

That difference is part of why the recent controversy surrounding Dr. Cheyenne Bryant has drawn so much attention. Bryant, who describes herself as a psychology expert and life coach, recently faced backlash over her credentials and her acknowledgment that she does not hold a therapy license. In interviews and online posts, she has defended the distinction, saying she is not presenting herself as a licensed clinician.

The debate around Bryant has spilled beyond one person’s brand. It has become a broader conversation about how easily wellness titles can blur, especially online, where “expert” can mean almost anything, and followers may not know what training actually sits behind the advice. Coaching requires no formal licensing, unlike a therapist, which is one reason consumers are urged to ask direct questions about training when getting help.

That caution is not just about credentials. It is also about safety. Evidence-based mental health care relies on methods that have been studied and shown to work, while coaching is typically built around goals, encouragement, and practical action steps. For someone who wants help building a morning routine, making a career pivot, or staying accountable, that can be a good fit; for someone dealing with panic attacks, trauma, or thoughts of self-harm, it can be a dangerous mismatch.

The strongest case for understanding both roles may be that they are not always in competition. Some people use coaching after, or alongside, therapy to stay organized and focused once they are more stable. 

“Those are two different roles, and they can both be incredibly helpful,” said Dr. Raquel Martin to BET recently. Martin is a licensed clinical psychologist, professor at Tennessee State University, and advocate for Black mental health.

Others begin with coaching and later realize they need a therapist instead. The key is honesty about the problem being solved, because personal growth and mental health treatment are related but not the same thing. 

“But you just have to know the difference. Therapists and licensed mental health professionals can do assessments, and they do therapy,” Martin says. “Coaches help more with problem-solving and specific skills. And honestly, you can have both.”

During Mental Health Awareness Month, that nuance is worth repeating. A therapist can help people unpack pain, patterns, and symptoms; a life coach can help them translate goals into action.

“I tell people, ‘See, if you want a licensed mental health professional or if you want a coach: do you think that you need to delve into trauma or do you think you need to work…on time management? Do you want to have someone who goes through your week and says, Do this, stop doing this, change that?’”

In a culture that often packages wellness as a single fix, the better question may be not which title sounds more empowering, but which kind of support is actually appropriate right now.

To learn more about different types of therapy, click here.