Should I See a Coach, or Do I Need Therapy?
Both coaching and counselling can be described as approaches to personal growth and development, but they are quite different in their focus and scope. While coaching is aimed at ‘evoking awareness’ in clients, counselling is focused on helping individuals work through emotional and psychological issues. In this blog post, we'll explore who can benefit from coaching and who can benefit from counselling, and the key differences between the two approaches.
Who Can Benefit from Coaching?
Coaching is a great option for individuals who want to improve their performance in a specific area of their life. Whether it's in their career, relationships, or personal development, coaching is not ‘just help with goal setting’ as I have heard it described. Coaching can help individuals set clear goals and develop a plan to achieve them, but it is more accurately described as ‘evoking awareness’ and while we might hope for the same in a counselling session, a coach is not typically going to focus on coping or managing what comes up. This isn’t to say that a good coach will leave you to deal alone, but rather that it has been assessed by you, and them that there is already a level of resilience, and well-being in order to cope with this new awareness. Enlightenment if you will, in a coaching framework is the focus, not on unpacking or providing therapy to the issue. From awareness around the issue, you are ready to change.
Coaching can be beneficial for those who want to build their confidence, develop their leadership skills, or overcome specific challenges, and can be particularly effective for individuals who are looking to make a significant change in their life, but may not know where to start. By working with a coach, individuals can gain clarity about their goals and develop a roadmap for achieving them. Coaches can also provide support and accountability to help individuals stay on track and overcome any obstacles they may encounter along the way.
Counselling is different!
Whereby a person is struggling emotionally or psychologically around an issue, or event, or becoming aware of a problem, this could include anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, and a range of other issues. Counselling provides individuals with a safe and supportive space to explore their feelings, thoughts, and behaviours and develop strategies to manage them and cope.
Counselling can be particularly effective for those who are feeling overwhelmed, stuck, or uncertain about their future. By working with a counsellor, individuals can gain insight into their issues and develop coping strategies to manage them. Counsellors can help individuals improve their relationships, build resilience, and develop greater self-awareness.
Key Differences Between Coaching and Counselling
Key differences in a nutshell:
Focus: Coaching focuses on helping individuals evoke awareness, and achieve specific goals while counselling focuses on helping individuals manage emotional and psychological issues.
Scope: Coaching can cover a wide range of areas, from business to personal development, while counselling is focused on emotional and psychological issues.
Interventions: Coaches use a range of interventions to help individuals achieve their goals, and evoke awareness, while counsellors use evidence-based interventions to help individuals manage emotional and psychological, and relational issues.
Qualifications:
There are many really great coaches and counsellors out there. It’s important to understand that both coaching and counselling are unregulated in Australia, largely because they are modalities more so than qualifications. A big, however, is that many are very qualified and there are some ways to find out if yours is.
Scope of practice. People should always be practicing within their ability, a red flag should pop up if someone is an everything coach.
Within a session. If a counsellor or other mental health professional is practicing coaching, that is something that should be agreed upon by the client. The counsellor should be skilled enough to know when a session is moving into a different modality.
Check the governing bodies’ codes of ethics to see if your coach or counsellor (even though they aren’t required to be registered) is adhering to the professional codes of conduct. See the ICF code of ethics here and the PACFA code of ethics here. ACA code of ethics here
Shani holds a a BA in Counselling (Coaching), a Diploma in Positive Psychology and Wellbeing (Positive Parenting and Positive Coaching), and has met the training requirements for PCC level Coach with ICF, Level 2 with ACA, and Certified Practicing member with PACFA. Shani works with people in both counselling or coaching capacity either online, or face-to-face in Northern Adelaide. Get in contact to discuss what is best for you.