Counselling And Coaching Case Study

Counselling and Coaching are often used synonymously as they have common characteristics that are hard to differentiate. However, some expertise have develop its comparison as to its purpose, issues, similarities, and differences.

Purpose of Counselling and Coaching (Sarah Bolitho, Debbie Lawrence, Elaine McNish, 2013) Counselling or Coaching Purpose

Sports To explore and develop sporting performance

Life To explore and develop personal and professional goals – work-life balance

Business To explore and develop performance in business or within an organization

Career To explore and develop career options and choices

Lifestyle To explore and support lifestyle change (alcohol, smoking, exercise, diet, etc.)

Relationship To explore and develop

Both require enhanced listening skills, an ability to reflect, provide feedback, demonstrate honesty and gain trust.

Differences between Counselling and Coaching

On a website of a practitioner namely Vanessa Emile N.D., differences between coaching and counselling was distinguished as follows:

Traditional Therapy or Counselling Coaching

Primary Life Focus The focus is on the person’s past. Deals with healing emotional pain or conflict within an individual or in a relationship between two people.Some forms of therapy e.g., Brief Solution Focused and CBT focus on the future. Focuses on a person’s present, in order to help them create actionable strategies for achieving specific goals in one’s personal and work life and act towards the future. The emphasis in a coaching relationship is on action, accountability. A highly experienced coach will know when to look at the past because it informs the present, as well as in order to help distinguish limiting belief

A generally functional client desiring a better situation

Treatment of the Past Understand and resolve the past. Understanding the past in the context in which future goals are set.

Questions Asked WHY? HOW? WHAT? WHEN? and WHY, a form of seeking insight, is emphasized less than action

Client Goals Help patients resolve old pain and improve emotional states Helps clients learn new skills and tools to build a more satisfying successful future; focuses on goals

Accountability for Goals The goals of therapy are for the person to be accountable for their feelings and emotions and change can be identified internally but not usually measurable unless using a CBT. Coaching goals, like business goals, usually have to do with one’s external world and behaviour and is measurable.

Relationship Therapist / Client relationship Co-creative equal partnership

Function The Therapist diagnoses, then provides professional expertise and guidelines to provide a path to healing The Coach stands with the clients and helps him or her identify the challenges, then partners to turn challenges into victories, holding client accountable to reach desired