Ashley Jangro, LPCC • Castle Rock Life Coach • 10 min read
People often ask me how my therapy is different from other therapists, or what the difference is between life coaching and therapy. Both are incredibly powerful. When used together, they create something transformative that goes beyond what either can accomplish alone.
How Life Coaching Training Transformed My Therapy Practice
The Unexpected Path
I never intended on becoming a life coach. I started my journey towards becoming a therapist in 2018. The pandemic shut my internship down, otherwise I probably never would have sought out life coaching. I didn't even really know what it meant. But I thought it was similar to counseling, and I could do it out of my home during the pandemic. So I became certified as a life coach.
The Training That Changed Everything
Learning to become a life coach made so many of the therapy tools I had learned accessible to me in a way that wasn't theoretical. From day one, we were taught to be our own first clients. We had to apply every tool, every exercise, every breakthrough technique to ourselves first, then come back to class to report how we used them. It was like bootcamp for learning to counsel as well! I had no idea how much it would change every aspect of my life.
Building the Foundation
We learned to process our emotions, challenge our thoughts, and take responsibility for our results and outcomes. We weren't dealing with trauma or any of the deeper issues that keep us as humans from functioning, but we were learning to create the lives we wanted. I never would have understood the practical application without this training.
During that training, I discovered something that sounds simple but changed everything:my thoughts weren't facts. They were just one interpretation among infinite possibilities, colored by years of patterned thinking that created the filter through which I saw the world. This wasn't just intellectual knowledge. I felt it, lived it, and watched my entire reality shift.
Through coaching, I learned that while my emotions could be incredibly uncomfortable, they weren't actually unmanageable. They were just sensations passing through my body, and I could handle them. This understanding didn't come from a textbook. It came from doing the work on myself repeatedly until it became second nature. This lived experience now serves my clients in ways I never could have imagined.
The Personal Transformation
Here's what actually changed in my life when I combined therapy knowledge with coaching tools:
- I stopped being controlled by anxiety. (I still feel anxious sometimes, but now I acknowledge it and keep moving. It doesn't run my life anymore.)
- I quit overdrinking. Lost significant weight initially, then made the informed decision to use GLP-1s to continue my health journey.
- Built a six-figure business while actually enjoying the process.
- Dramatically improved my relationship because I learned to heal internally instead of expecting my husband to fix me.
- Became the mom I wanted to be: present, regulated, and able to break generational patterns of emotional dysregulation.
- Stopped losing my temper with my girls.
- Stopped the endless overthinking and ruminating that used to steal hours of my day.
- The constant worry that used to be my background soundtrack? Gone.
But here's the thing: this isn't about me being special or having some unique willpower.It's about having access to both the deep understanding of why we think and feel the way we do (therapy) and the practical tools to actually change it (coaching).
How This Changes Everything for My Clients
When you work with me, you're not getting just a therapist or just a coach. You're getting someone who understands the deep psychological patterns that drive your struggles AND has the practical tools to help you create real change.
My coaching background keeps me from over-pathologizing normal human experiences. Not everything needs a diagnosis. You just have human thoughts and feelings that you haven't learned to work with effectively. I know that thoughts are ultimately a choice (even when they absolutely don't feel like it), and while changing deeply ingrained patterns isn't easy, it's absolutely possible.
At the same time, my therapy training means I can recognize and properly treat actual mental health conditions. I understand trauma and how it lives in the body. I know how to use somatic techniques that go beyond just changing thoughts. My DBT training taught me the crucial importance of distress tolerance. Sometimes we need to survive the moment before we can thrive in life.
The Deeper Understanding
My therapy training completely transformed how I approach coaching. I understand developmental stages in a way that pure coaching doesn't teach. This means I can work with teens effectively, understanding what's actually happening in their brains and helping parents grasp why their teenager seems like a different person overnight.
My diversity training opened my eyes to how systemic oppression and marginalization literally change brain structure. Trauma isn't just "something bad that happened." It fundamentally alters how our nervous system responds to the world. This understanding allows me to hold space for experiences I haven't lived while still offering practical tools for healing.
The addiction training I received was profound, but again, coaching helps me approach it without shame or over-pathologizing. Sometimes drinking too much is about numbing trauma. Sometimes it's just a habit that got out of hand. Knowing the difference and having tools for both changes everything.
Real Results, Real Fast
Here's what happens when you combine all of this: clients get results. Not in years, but in weeks and months. They're landing promotions and dream jobs. Several clients have met their life partners shortly after we started working together. Not because I'm a matchmaker, but because when you heal internally, you attract different people.
Parents are transforming their relationships with their kids and watching their children's mental health improve as a result. People are healing trauma that's haunted them for decades. They're not just feeling better. They're creating entirely different lives.
Why This Matters for You
If you're struggling right now, you might be wondering whether you need a therapist or a coach. The truth is, you probably need both: someone who can help you understand the deep roots of your patterns AND give you practical tools to change them.
You need someone who won't just listen and validate (though I do that too) but will also lovingly challenge your thoughts and help you see new possibilities. Someone who understands that healing isn't just about insight. It's about taking new actions even when your brain is screaming at you to stay safe in familiar patterns.
My background as an educator means I can teach you these concepts in ways that actually stick. We're not just talking about your problems. We're building a toolkit you'll use for the rest of your life.
The Invitation
I've used every single tool I teach on myself first. I've done the work. I've faced the discomfort, challenged the thoughts, felt the feelings, and come out the other side. Not perfect, but profoundly changed.
I'm still human. I still feel anxiety, frustration, and doubt. The difference is that these emotions no longer control my life. They're just visitors passing through, and I have the tools to work with them instead of against them.
This is what I want for you. Not perfection, but freedom. Not the absence of difficult emotions, but the confidence that you can handle whatever comes. Not a life without problems, but the tools to solve them.
Ready to Experience What Therapy + Coaching Can Do?
You don't have to choose between deep healing and practical change. You can have both. Let's talk about how this unique approach can help you create the life you actually want.
Ashley Jangro
Therapist and life coach who recently opened her practice in downtown Castle Rock called Steady Within. She works with teens and adults on challenges like anxiety, trauma, and life transitions. Her approach blends therapy with coaching, so it's more practical and results-focused than traditional talk therapy.