How It's Complicated works
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Find your therapistUse our free matching service for personal recommendations, or browse our network of 2,500+ therapists yourself.
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Create your free accountSign up in under 2 minutes. All you need is an email and a password, and you're ready to go.
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Start therapyReach out to your therapist and book your first session within 24 hours. Online or in person, in 60+ languages.
Learn more about coaching
Coaching is a structured, goal-oriented process that supports people in developing skills, clarifying direction, building confidence, and achieving specific personal or professional objectives. Unlike psychotherapy, coaching does not focus on diagnosing or treating mental health conditions. It works with present challenges and future goals rather than with historical or clinical material as its primary focus.
Coaching is practised by a wide range of professionals, including those with backgrounds in psychology, organisational development, and education. Training and regulation vary significantly across countries, so it is worth checking a coach's qualifications and professional memberships. Many practitioners at It's Complicated integrate coaching with evidence-based therapeutic approaches, offering a more comprehensive form of support.
A coaching engagement typically begins with goal-setting: clarifying what the client wants to achieve and what success looks like. From there, sessions are structured around working toward those goals, with the coach providing tools, frameworks, challenge, and accountability.
Coaching may involve:
- Clarifying values, priorities, and longer-term direction
- Identifying and working through blocks to performance or progress
- Developing practical strategies for specific challenges
- Building self-awareness and behavioural change skills
- Structured accountability between sessions
Coaching is most effective for performance, direction, and development challenges rather than clinical conditions. It is widely used in the following areas.
Burnout
Coaching is used in the recovery and rebuilding phase of burnout, helping people reconnect with their values, restructure their workload, and develop more sustainable patterns. Where burnout involves significant clinical symptoms, a therapist with coaching skills is often the better fit.
ADHD: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) coaching focuses on the practical dimensions of living with ADHD: time management, task initiation, prioritisation, and structuring work and daily life. It is typically used alongside clinical treatment, not as a replacement for it.
Academic or educational problems
Coaching supports students and professionals navigating academic pressure, learning difficulties, motivation challenges, and transitions between educational stages. It can provide practical tools for focus, organisation, and confidence in academic settings.
Autism
Coaching is used with autistic adults to support goal-setting, workplace navigation, social communication strategies, and self-advocacy. It works alongside other forms of support rather than as a standalone intervention for clinical aspects of autism.
Choosing an approach isn't something you have to do alone. IC's matching can pair you with a therapist whose approach suits your situation. Get matched
It's Complicated is a therapist-founded mental health platform connecting clients with verified practitioners across Europe and globally, in over 60 languages. We work with over 2,500 vetted therapists, with in-person availability in Berlin, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Lisbon, Vienna, and other major cities, alongside online sessions worldwide. It's Complicated is free to use, and you pay your chosen therapist directly at rates they set.
The line between coaching and therapy is not always clear, and finding someone with the right combination of skills for your situation can take time. Our matching service is built to remove that friction. You complete a short survey, our psychologists combine data-driven insights with human judgement to identify the right therapists for your situation, and you choose from a shortlist of strong candidates. You can also browse our directory directly if you'd prefer to choose yourself.
Get matched with a coach or coaching-integrated practitioner, or browse all coaching practitioners in the directory.
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