Counseling and Coaching both promote personal growth and development leading to a greater feeling of fulfillment and happiness. Often people aren’t sure what the difference is between counselling and coaching. While counselling helps people move from pain and confusion to meaning and hope, coaching helps people set goals which they are determined to meet or exceed.
As a counsellor I use Solution Focused Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy models. Using these two modalities I spend time with people exploring what their current experiences are, what they want to see change and what thoughts or feelings are causing them to feel stuck in certain behaviours and repetitive unsatisfactory experiences. This part of counselling spends time focusing on the “why” of someone’s behaviours or thought patterns. After this we spend time exploring new ways of thinking or behaving and reflect on the benefits of these new behaviours. People who complete counselling often share that they feel more self-confidence, are in healthier relationships, experience less stress and are now in control of their feelings – instead of being controlled by their feelings.
As a coach, the process continues to focus on personal growth; however, the focus is on the present, the future and what people want to achieve. Unlike counselling, coaching does not spend significant energy reflecting on the “why” of behavior. A coach comes to the relationship with the belief that people have infinite capabilities and resources and the coaching role is to help people clarify what they want, develop ways to achieve these goals and be accountable for the choices they make reflecting on whether these daily choices bring them closer to, or further from, their goals. People who work with coaches often feel they are proud of their new accomplishments, that they are spending their energy working towards what they really want to achieve, they are more focused and can see tangible results.
If you want more information please contact me for a free 15 minute initial consultation to see which service will work best for you!
Cheers,
Charlene