Coaching or Counselling
Are you wondering what the differences are between Coaching and counselling?
Most folks can be unsure of the differences between coaching and counselling, so here is an essential guide to help clarify that two different health professionals are doing a similar job.
What is The Definition of Life Coaching?
Health Coaching falls within the Life Coaching professional field, encompassing multiple holistic, eastern, and Western-based therapies.
Life Coaching is considered an alternative care profession. Life coaches will have various qualifications from various training establishments, and you are advised to cross-check these credentials and ensure they have indemnity insurance before commencing.
Life coaching helps clients envision a future self they aspire to and set about daily practices to ensure their client reaches that goal. Coaches often facilitate sessions within the client's home or workplace, gaining a different insight and perspective to help the client work through their life’s goals within the virtual environment they navigate daily.
Life coaches’ skills include an acute ability to identify problematic behaviour that prevents the clients’ life goals from eventuating. A coach takes the physical and mental aspects of the client's needs, giving holistic consideration and drawing from multiple resources, including other mental health professionals so that a treatment management plan is constructed with mental health education as the central focus within the clients’ sessions.
Coaches are working with the client to re-wire old habits and problematic behaviour by teaching fundamental mental health life skills while giving emotional support through the change process.
Coaches help with:
Identifying, clarifying, and defining goals.
Creating a strategic plan to use the client's skills and strengths to reach those goals.
Holding the client accountable for the progress and achievement of those goals.
Provide structure, inspiration, guidance, motivation, and support.
What is the Definition of Counselling?
Counsellors can seem like they do much the same as coaches, but they have a greater scope of clinical knowledge. They can work with a diverse range of clients & generally are attached to an organisation or larger mental health facility.
In Australia, a counsellor can only practise as such with a Certified Diploma, and their fees for sessions can be claimed through most health insurance funds.
Counselling is considered a medical profession; registered counsellors must meet strict guidelines and have indemnity insurance.
Certified Counsellors can work with individuals with normal cognitive processes who have experienced challenging life events & they also work with people who have severe mental issues that require specialised acute medical care.
Certified Counsellors are often included in larger medical response teams, including physicians, nurses, psychologists, and social workers.
Breaking down the differences Between Coaching & Counselling
Counsellors frequently work with clients whom a health care professional has advised needing therapy or counselling.
Coaches work with clients who often use a coach of their own volition.
Counselling is seldom a quick fix – it may take years to work with some severe mental disorders & traumas.
Coaching is sometimes a quick fix, though it usually takes a few months to help people overcome fears, phobias, and self-created obstacles.
And how both can work side by side…
Despite significant differences between health coaching and counselling, there is also a definite overlap.
Both do a great job of helping clients, and they can coexist side-by-side to help people overcome mental health issues and work toward their life goals.