Therapy or Coaching: Which Is Right for You?
Choosing the Right Service
Berkley Wellness offers psychotherapy, EME Coaching, and Health & Wellness Coaching as distinct professional services. Each has a different purpose, scope, provider role, informed-consent process, and documentation standard.
Understanding these differences is important. Psychotherapy is licensed clinical mental health care. Coaching is a nonclinical service focused on education, exploration, personal development, and intentional change.
Therapy
Psychotherapy is a licensed clinical mental health service provided by Linell Berkley, MSW, LCSW.
As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Linell provides clinical assessment, diagnostic evaluation when indicated, treatment planning, psychotherapy, and ongoing clinical evaluation within the scope of her professional education, training, and licensure.
Psychotherapy may include:
Comprehensive clinical assessment of symptoms, history, functioning, relationships, psychosocial factors, strengths, risks, and treatment needs
Diagnostic evaluation and clinical diagnosis when indicated
Individualized treatment planning based on clinical findings and client goals
Individual and couples psychotherapy
EMDR and trauma-focused treatment
EMDR Intensive Therapy
Clinical intervention for anxiety, depression, trauma and PTSD, grief, significant emotional distress, relationship concerns, insomnia, and other mental health or relational concerns
Ongoing evaluation of progress, functioning, treatment needs, and safety
Coordination or referral to other healthcare professionals when clinically indicated
Treatment is highly individualized and may integrate evidence-based and evidence-informed psychotherapeutic approaches and interventions, including:
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I)
Psychodynamic psychotherapy
Schema-focused approaches
Attachment-based treatment
Trauma-focused interventions
Mindfulness-based approaches
IFS-informed concepts
Gottman Method interventions
Emotionally Focused Therapy
Imago-informed couples approaches
Psychotherapy involves a formal clinical relationship. Clinical services are provided under Linell’s Wisconsin LCSW license and are documented through clinical records consistent with HIPAA, professional and legal standards.
Psychotherapy is appropriate when mental health symptoms, trauma, emotional distress, relational concerns, or longstanding patterns require clinical assessment, diagnosis when indicated, treatment, or psychotherapy.
EME Coaching
EME Coaching is a separate, nonclinical, psychoeducational life coaching service provided by Linell Berkley as a Certified EME Integration Practitioner.
Although Linell is also a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, EME Coaching is not offered as psychotherapy or clinical social work and does not use the clinical functions of her psychotherapy practice.
EME Coaching is designed for adults seeking personal development, increased self-awareness, intentional change, and deeper exploration of the patterns influencing how they move through their lives.
EME Coaching may include:
Exploring limiting beliefs, internal rules, and recurring patterns
Increasing awareness of emotional and behavioral patterns
Examining the relationship between emotion, mind, energy, and personal experience
Exploring values, intuition, meaning, spirituality, or purpose when desired
Identifying areas of incongruence between what you want and how you are currently living
Clarifying choices, boundaries, priorities, and desired change
Psycho-education, reflection, mindfulness, and personal-development exercises
Developing intentional actions and greater alignment with personal goals
Within EME Coaching, concepts such as energy, intuition, alignment, or blocks are used within a personal-development and experiential framework. They are not medical or mental health diagnoses.
EME Coaching Does Not Include
EME Coaching does not provide:
Mental health assessment or diagnostic evaluation
Mental health diagnosis or differential diagnosis
Psychotherapy
A psychotherapy treatment plan
Treatment of depression, anxiety disorders, PTSD, trauma, or another mental health condition
Trauma processing
EMDR therapy
Clinical crisis intervention
Psychological or neuropsychological testing
Psychiatric treatment or medication management
Medical treatment
Clinical documentation for insurance reimbursement
EME Coaching is not a substitute for psychotherapy, psychiatric care, medical care, substance-use treatment, or other licensed healthcare services.
Coaching receipts identify the service as coaching and do not include psychotherapy billing codes or mental health diagnoses.
Health & Wellness Coaching
Health & Wellness Coaching is a separate, nonclinical service provided by John Berkley, NBC-HWC.
Health & Wellness Coaching is a collaborative process focused on helping individuals clarify priorities, strengthen motivation, and create practical and sustainable behavior changes related to health and well-being.
Coaching may address:
Stress management and resilience
Sleep and restorative routines
Movement and physical activity
Everyday eating habits
Recovery and self-care
Energy and balance
Health-related behavior change
Accountability and consistent follow-through
Health & Wellness Coaching does not provide medical or mental health diagnosis, psychotherapy, or treatment of medical or psychiatric conditions. When a concern requires assessment or treatment by a licensed healthcare professional, a referra to an appropriate provider will be recommended.
Explore Health & Wellness Coaching + TRE® →
Not Sure Where to Begin?
You do not need to determine the right service on your own.
Berkley Wellness can explain the purpose and scope of each service so you can make an informed decision about the type of support you are seeking.
If your primary concern involves significant mental health symptoms, trauma-related distress, difficulty functioning, safety concerns, or uncertainty about whether clinical treatment may be needed, beginning with a licensed mental health professional is recommended.
Learn about Therapy and Coaching Services →
Learn about Nervous System and Regulation Services →
Separate Services, Clear Roles
EME Coaching and Health & Wellness Coaching do not diagnose or treat medical or mental health conditions and are not a substitute for care from a licensed healthcare professional.
To maintain clear ethical and professional boundaries, Linell does not provide psychotherapy and EME Coaching to the same person. Once a professional relationship begins with Linell in either role, the client will not later transition into Linell’s other service and will be provided with referral options as appropriate.
Not Sure Where to Begin?
We would be happy to help you determine whether therapy, EME Coaching, or Health & Wellness Coaching would be a good fit.
