What is the difference between receiving therapy and being coached?
Coaching takes off from an applied belief in change led by the client and his/her own insights. A therapist takes off from a standpoint of expertise with which conclusions and suggested advice is given. Therapy includes discussing the past, especially what has caused pain, while coaching focuses on the present opportunities and what has worked well before. Coaching aims to find ways to solve a problem and reach goals. Therapy can rather explain what caused the problem, especially if it's a re-occurring pattern of behavior.
Both types are based on dialogue with active listening and summarizing what has been said, and should be held with confidentiality between the coach, or therapist, and his/her client.
When doing this in groups, it's important to keep it an even more defined border. Group-therapy often includes teaching and emotional releases of shared experiences, while group-coaching focuses on how to move forward, what to change, and create, with encouragement and follow-up, also hopefully with mutual support among the group's members.
Whether individually or group based, both coaching and therapy become more successful when they are held regularly for a couple of months, to also allow time for reflection, adjustment and trials with feedback.
Both are sometimes needed, preferably receiving therapy first.
(Neither requires a yogamat.)