Christina Congleton is a certified Integral Coach through New Ventures West. She studied biopsychology and creative writing at Oberlin College, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa and was awarded High Honors in Psychology, the Stetson-Heiser Prize in Psychology, and the Oberlin Friends and Alumni Fiction Prize. She has worked as a Fulbright teaching assistant in France, and as a research assistant in neuroimaging laboratories at Massachusetts General Hospital and MIT.  She is currently a research affiliate at the MIT Center for Neuroeconomics, and also works with young children at the Cambridge Montessori School.

Q: How is coaching different from therapy?

A: Coaching is similar to some forms of therapy, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, and the coaching experience is frequently therapeutic. Healing occurs when we recognize restrictive patterns and exercise our ability to move beyond them. Different from some forms of therapy, in coaching we do not spend a lot of time analyzing the past. The focus is on how we show up in the present, and how we can create new possibilities in life. The potential is to reach higher levels of adult development. Some people come to coaching and realize they are better served by therapy, or a combination of therapy and coaching. Others find that once they begin coaching, they can end therapy. It is always important to consider the type of service you are looking for. Coaching is not an appropriate substitute for conditions that require medical attention.