Therapists must obtain specific education and licensing. A coach cannot act as a therapist without that education and licensing. However, a therapist can act as a coach without separate coaching training.

Therapists identify and diagnosis mental / emotional conditions and disorders. Specific therapy techniques and programming provided by a therapist are meant to prevent, treat and cure.

Although a coach cannot diagnose, like a therapist can, the ethical guidelines of coaching calls for coaches to refer certain topics or matters out to therapists, by way of making the suggestion to the client. A Client can be simultaneously in therapy and in coaching. It is the coach’s responsibility to continue to draw the conversation back to discussion that falls within coaching parameters. 

Therapy can be a combination of future focused discussion and also engage in a deeper exploration of the past in a more comprehensive way than a coach can properly explore.

Consultants provide information based on their expertise or experience. Consultants can merely share these insights during meetings, or they can be retained to clarify and define problems and implement solutions. 

There is not necessarily any specific training or licensing required for one to be considered a consultant. Therefore, coaches may consult. Likewise, consultants may use coaching techniques when implementing change in an organization.

In a coaching session, when a coach determines it might be a proper moment to provide some consulting, the coach should ask the client permission to share some insights from their experience or expertise. The structure of coaching, from a purist perspective, is to assist the client to find their own answers. However, industry expert coaches, coaching within a particular industry, may have fact-based experiences or general insights that assist the client in getting more perspective than their current level of experience. Coaches and clients should be on the lookout for a coach who spends too much time in teaching moments, while also understanding that a teaching moment can sometimes save the client frustration and time. 

A mentor is not always designated as a formal role.  It might be a mentor-mentee relationship that formed naturally without any structure. A mentor is generally thought of as someone who provides guidance and support, as well as wisdom and encouragement, to a less experienced individual. Mentoring is done with the intention that the less experienced individual will grow personally and professionally.

Some of the outcome of mentoring, such as support and encouragement, may surface in coaching. However, that support is provided through the coaching process and it often draws encouragement from inside the client, as opposed to just given by the coach.