Sometimes coaching feels a lot like therapy.

You’re supposed to be helping someone build a job search strategy, and suddenly you’re neck-deep in childhood trauma, burnout breakdowns, or a 20-minute play-by-play of how their manager made them cry in a meeting six months ago.

And your brain goes, “Wait... how did we get here?”

Now, I’m not saying clients shouldn’t bring emotion into sessions.

It happens. Especially when they’re navigating career identity loss or workplace trauma.

A career is linked to a client’s identity.

Of course there’s going to be fear, grief, and “what the hell am I doing with my life?” moments.

But we are not trained to be therapists, and we weren’t hired to be either.

So today, we’re digging into:

🔹 Why career coaching can blur into emotional caretaking
🔹 How to catch yourself before you cross the line
🔹 And three ways to keep your sessions on track (without being a jerk about it)

So Why Does This Happen?

Clients are human.

And when they’re scared or stuck or uncertain, they’ll grab onto whatever feels safe.

And if you don’t have your own boundaries in place, you become the person they offload everything onto.

Not because they’re trying to hijack the session, but because you didn’t stop them.

You’ve Got to Hold the Line

I learned this the hard way.

You let one session slide, and suddenly you’re spending half your coaching calls “holding space” while no actual progress happens.

So here’s how I keep things from turning into a therapy session:

1. Set the Frame Early

At the start of every coaching relationship, I say something like:

“This is a coaching space. We’re going to talk about real stuff, and sometimes it’ll get emotional. But my job isn’t to process the past, it’s to help you move forward.”

That clarity is everything. It doesn’t make you cold, but it does set the frame.

2. Interrupt When You Need To

When someone’s in a loop of venting and reliving every bad meeting they’ve ever had, I’ll jump in with:

“I want to pause you for a second, what’s the actual question we’re trying to answer here?”

This isn’t mean. It’s focused.

They’ll either course-correct or realize they’re off the rails. Either way, you’re steering it back.

3. Don’t Be Afraid to Say “That’s Outside Our Scope”

If someone’s spiraling about something that clearly needs a therapist, I say:

“That feels important, and it might be bigger than what we can work on here. I can help you find someone to talk to if that would be helpful.”

This helps to redirect them with care.

You Can Be Empathetic and Have Boundaries

Clients need to know this is a safe space, but not a spill-everything-and-get-validation space.

You can’t want progress for them more than they want it for themselves. And you can’t carry their whole emotional world on your back.

You’re a coach.

You’re here to ask better questions, not unpack their childhood.
You’re here to create movement, not manage their inner life.

So the next time a session starts to veer off course?

Pull it back.

Kindly. Clearly. Firmly.

Have you ever had a session veer into therapy territory?

How did you bring it back?

Hit reply. I’d love to hear what worked.

Talk soon,
Heather

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