Coaching or Counselling?
The truth is, it depends on who you ask! Both professions are unregulated in most of Canada's provinces and territories, including BC, so training, skills, and approaches can vary wildly. However, at Verity Therapy, we believe counselling and coaching can complement each other as people engage in their healing and transformation process.
Have you ever gotten to a place in your counselling where you felt like you had gained awareness or processed past difficulties or trauma, and then wondered, Now what? You might have a clear sense of your attachment styles, processed grief in important ways, or gained awareness of personal coping mechanisms or a mental health diagnosis. Maybe you have made peace in certain areas of your past, but how do you decide on new boundaries now? How do you live a more authentic and self-led life? How do you recognize patterns of behaviour in the future? What does life look like for you after spiritual deconstruction or reconstruction?
Though a therapist or counsellor may also help clients discover answers to these questions, these areas may benefit positively from a fresh perspective through a coaching relationship.
Sometimes, you might not need counselling but simply want someone to help you process some life decisions or assist you in setting and achieving an important goal. Coaching can also be an excellent modality for this.
Alternately, you may start receiving coaching for a particular area of your life and, through that process, become aware of places in your past that would benefit from a therapist's or counsellor's skills and training.
According to the International Coach Federation (ICF), coaching and counselling have key differences:
Coaching:
Focuses more on the present and future
Aims to help clients achieve specific personal and professional goals
Primarily concentrates on personal and professional development
Uses a non-directive approach where the coach sees the client as capable of finding their own solutions
Typically shorter-term and more goal-oriented
Healing may be a byproduct, but it is not the goal of coaching
Counselling/Therapy:
Often focuses on past experiences and their impact on current functioning
Addresses psychological healing and resolves deeper emotional issues
Deals with mental health concerns, trauma, and psychological disorders
Explores underlying psychological patterns and past traumas
Tends to be longer-term and more exploratory
Is a healing modality
However, there are many ways in which counselling and coaching are similar. Both counselling and coaching may (or may not):
Be trauma-informed
Use a body-based (somatic) approach
Be emotion-focused and informed
Use therapeutic skills like mirroring, attunement, and open-ended questions to create awareness and understanding
Offer an empathetic and compassionate witness
Assist with integration and personal growth
If coaching or counselling interests you, check out our Meet the Team page and book a free consultation with one of our practitioners. We are eager to support you!
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