Coaching is not therapy, counseling or psychology. Although the coaching process may have roots in the field of psychology (and intervention often follows some psychological models), the actual process of coaching should not be mistaken for a therapeutic intervention.
Coaching – Coaches work on improving the performance and wellbeing of an individual or group through setting goals, exploring values and beliefs, and creating plans of action. This is achieved not by advising or telling, but largely by questioning to facilitate awareness and self-directed learning. There are a growing number of categories in coaching, such as life, executive, team, group and career coaching, but the process is largely the same. Just as the more successful an athlete is, the more likely he or she is to work with a sports coach, performance coaching is not necessarily about fixing problems but about helping successful individuals and teams to become more so.
Coaching can be practiced either one to one or with groups of any size and is used with teams to achieve a unified and supportive force. The roots of communicating in a coaching style are ancient and inherent in all people; some are natural coaches who were raised in a coaching atmosphere. For others, it is possible to learn the skills and change their style of communication, hence the growing popularity of coaching in corporate and public organisations. Good leadership is virtually synonymous with good coaching skills
Therapy: Psychiatry, Psychology and Psychotherapy – A psychiatrist is a qualified medical doctor with further training in psychiatry but not necessarily in psychology. A psychiatrist is the only practitioner covered in this article who can prescribe drugs to treat a mental condition.
A psychologist will have general training, usually a degree, in psychology, plus further training in a specialist field.
A psychotherapist works with deep-seated emotional difficulties and will have received rigorous training and ongoing supervision. In recent times, basic coaching skills are usually included in any kind of therapeutic training.
Counselling – Counsellors often provide the simple service of ‘someone to talk to’, particularly in situations of grief, shock or anxiety. There are various levels of training, starting with a short course leading to a certificate. Sessions can be on a one off basis, or occurring regularly over months or years.
Counseling vs. Coaching
Counseling primarily deals with the past to the present. Coaching primarily deals with the present to the future.Counseling is about processing and healing. Coaching is about envisioning and growing.The comparison below may bring more clarity to the distinctions between counseling and coaching:
Counseling/Therapy Coaching
Insight oriented Action oriented
Focus on past to present Focus on present to future
Healing work Growth work
Relief from pain Pursuit of passion
Reactive Proactive
Pathology & diagnosis Health & wholeness
Medical model Growth model
Therapist/Client responsibility Client responsibility
More supportive More edgy
More stigma Less stigma
Billed to insurance Self-pay