SZA Says She Accidentally Went to a ‘Life Coach’ Thinking They Were a Therapist — and ‘Didn’t Get Better’

Life coaching is not the same as therapy, and SZA learned that the hard way.

In a new headline interview for WSJ. MagazineIn the November issue of Innovator, the 33-year-old R&B superstar opened up about how she deals with difficult emotions, noting that she’s tried hypnotherapy, talk therapy, psychiatry and acupuncture.

However, she once accidentally saw a life coach thinking he was a therapist. An unofficial counselor taught her about box breathing as a method to reduce anxiety, but SZA became frustrated when the exercise didn’t help.

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SZA on the cover of WSJ. Magazine.

Ethan James Green for WSJ. Magazine

“After I was breathing in a box for three months and I wasn’t getting better, I called her in a freaking rage like, ‘I’m going to commit myself to an institution today, I need help!’ I said, ‘What form of therapy do you do? DBT?'” she told the publication, referring to dialectical behavior therapy.

SZA continued, “She was like, ‘I don’t have a clinical form of therapy because I’m not a licensed therapist, baby. I thought you knew that.’ Turns out she wasn’t a certified therapist. She was a fucking life coach.”

There are a few big differences between the two practices — mainly that life coaching doesn’t require a medical degree, while therapy does, although many coaches still receive training.

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“Unlike psychotherapy, coaching aims to help people who are already functioning at normal or even higher levels to work through emotional discomfort and make additional gains,” wrote Yael Schonbrun and Brad Stulberg for The Washington Post in 2022. “A coach can help you perform better physically, emotionally, professionally, socially or athletically, depending on the specialty.”

SZA for WSJ. Magazine.

Ethan James Green for WSJ. Magazine

Elsewhere in SZA WSJ. Magazine interview, the Grammy winner talked about how songwriting helps her deal with personal issues in life.

When I leave the studio, I feel better and empty,” said the “Kill Bill” performer. “There is no better sleep than the sleep of an empty brain, and that can only come after I have spent 10 hours in the studio and done something good.”

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Anxiety still creeps into her head, especially at high-profile events, which still feel unnatural to SZA despite her years of experience and success as an entertainer.

“Sometimes when I’m in those situations, it makes me even more anxious, because I think, ‘Damn, now I’m going to be judged for being a bitch, or quiet, or looking rude,'” the star said. “It’s all about, it’s not you, it’s me, and I’m sizzling and I don’t know how to be different now.”

of SZA WSJ. Magazine cover story hits newsstands on November 11, and she will be one of six award winners at the 13th annual Innovator Awards on November 1.

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Source: HIS Education