In 2025, the professional coaching industry in the USA continued to outpace the licensed therapist workforce in terms of rapid growth and new practitioners, largely due to lower entry barriers and a rising demand for non-clinical mental health support.
Workforce Statistics & Growth (2025)
Professional Coaches: There are approximately 232,000 active coaches (including life, health, and executive coaches) in the U.S. as of late 2025. The industry has more than doubled since 2016 and is valued at roughly $16 billion. Professional coaching is self-regulated; following voluntary ethical guidelines.
We recommend when choosing a professional coach choose someone who is accredited/credentialed, not just certified.
Licensed Therapists: The number of mental health counselors is projected to reach approximately 138,170 full-time equivalents (FTEs) by the end of 2025. While the therapist workforce has seen steady growth (about 3% over five years), it faces a critical shortage of nearly 100,000 practitioners needed to meet current demand.
Regulated by state boards with legal authority to diagnose. However, DSM terms used to diagnose are now questionable as to whether they hold scientific validity. Does a diagnosis help or hinder a person’s growth?
Key Trends in 2025
A psychological formulation is an individualized explanation of a person’s emotional, behavioral, and Blurring Boundaries: Coaches are increasingly adopting “trauma-informed” approaches, while therapists are marketing themselves more like coaches to attract clients seeking action-oriented results rather than traditional clinical therapy. Coaching is booming, whereas training in therapy is growing very slowly in comparison.
It would be intelligent for therapists, counselors, psychologists and psychotherapists to invest in proper coach training and gain one or more coaching credentials to succeed in a crowded marketplace.
Certification vs Credential Perceived Value: In 2025, approximately 75% of coaching clients expect their coach to be certified, and certified coaches earn up to 20% more than uncertified coaches. As public awareness grows more clients will want a credentialed coach, which is where a professional coach has been trained by a coach training company who has had their coach training audited by a coaching accreditation body like – The International Authority for Professional Coaching & Mentoring (IAMPC&M) or the International Coaching Federation (ICF).
AI Integration: A major 2025 trend is the use of AI as a training tool for new therapists and coaches, providing real-time feedback and avatar-based training scenarios.
Coaching is now the 2nd fastest growing industry behind Information Technology (IT).
