Counselling vs Life Coaching
My heroes are those who do the work. Whether it’s on a spiritual, emotional, religious level or mental level.
The difference between counselling and Life coaching
Counselling… asks WHY?
Professional counselling is a safe and confidential collaboration between qualified counsellors and clients to promote mental health and wellbeing enhance self-understanding, and resolve identified concerns. Clients are active participants in the counselling process at every stage.
Counsellors work with children, young people, adults, couples, families and groups.
Counselling may be short term, long term, or over a lifetime, according to clients’ needs.
Counsellors are fully present with their clients, using empathy and deep listening to establish positive working relationships. Counselling is effective when clients feel safe, understood, respected, and accepted without judgement.
Counselling is a profession with a strong evidence base. Counsellor’s use empirically supported interventions and specialised interpersonal skills to facilitate change and empower clients.
Counsellors are trained in a range of modalities to work with clients from diverse backgrounds.
Counselling can be broad or focused. Clients may explore: aspects of identity, spirituality, relationships with self and others, past experiences, parenting, grief and loss, trauma, domestic violence, child abuse, use of alcohol and other substances, depression, anxiety, and other experiences.
Changes facilitated by counselling include: change in perspective, new insight, new ways of thinking about situations, new awareness of feelings, enhanced capacity to tolerate and regulate feelings, new actions or behaviours, and new decisions about life.
Counselling focuses on analysing the past, depression, anxiety and past relationships, physical, emotional and sexual abuse. It works with mild to severe mental disorders.
Some main therapies used in therapy are as Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Acceptance Commitment Therapy and Exposure therapy.
Therapy assumes the client is sick or dysfunctional and needs to heal so they can function normally
If you feel like you are non-functioning therapy can help you get to a place of functioning.
Sometimes doctors and psychologists prescribe medication so clients can do the work.
These therapies focus on diagnosis of the problem and why?
The aim of counselling is TO RESTORE ISSUES
Life Coaching…Asks WHAT NEXT?
Life coaching assumes the client is OK and full of potential
Life coaching is an educational discovery process. It explores the human potential. It is self-evaluation, self-knowledge, and self-development. It focuses on performance enhancement, belter self-management. Life coaching takes clients to their highest level of performance and satisfactory.
Life coaching rarely asks about family life. It identifies obstacles and barriers as guidance for new direction.
Coaching assumes an equal relationship between client and coach. The aim of coaching is to DESIGN YOUR LIFE.
Life coaching and counselling
I think if it’s really important to talk about stuff from your past or if you think it’s holding you back.
Coaching can have amazing results with people who have had years for therapy and don’t have freedom yet or are bitter and resentful, still victimising self, still hating selves.
They have already opened up wounds and are ready to move beyond it.
Therapy is great for those who have never looked at their wounds.
How Do You Know Therapy or Coaching?
Two questions that can help you decide are:
1. Have you ever told someone the story of your abuse or trauma?
2. When you told the story, did it release you from some shame and did it increase your awareness. If you have done that work you may be ready for more coaching activities.
If you find or feel something from your past is preventing you from functioning today in your world, you may need more therapy.
A lot of us are functioning and suffering
And this is how I have felt with drinking, eating, relationships, time management, and work/life balance.
I felt like I needed to be an ‘alcoholic’ so there was a solution. I was not an alcoholic but did not want to drink so much.
I think Life Coaching has provided that solutions for me and many of us that are highly functioning and yet still suffering.
The biggest blessing we have is a place for therapy and a place for Life Coaching.
I believe the two cannot only co-exist together but be integrated with trained practitioners. This is why I studied both. I part of me needed credibility and a part needed to have the balanced approach of both. Each client starts from a different and unique place.
Because of our environment and the way our brain has evolved and the rapid progression of material concepts in the world, what we are up against, Life Coaching is needed more than ever. For our kids and us.
Imagine the next generation if they were taught:
How the mind works
How to have financial security
How to be a good parent
How to create good relationships
How to create and maintain self-esteem and self worth
Imagine what the humans race and experience would be like if they’d been taught these subjects along with the regular curriculum.
If you out there don’t invest in your mental health. If you are not in therapy or coaching or investing in some way in your mental health. I believe you are at risk of being left behind in terms of your ability to cope because of the enormous amount of options and opportunities being presented to us as humans. Compared to 1000 or just 100 years ago. We do not just simply choose survival anymore. We choose from 100’s of TV show, 50 cereals, which IPhone?, What Apps?...
If you are not paying attention and being aware of your brain and deliberately thinking on purpose you can get swept up and indulge in all the messages that are getting put into your brain.
If you are ‘la say fare’ you may end up somewhere you don’t want to be.
My heroes are those who do the work.