What is Counseling?
“Counseling is a professional relationship that empowers diverse individuals, families, and groups to accomplish mental health, wellness, education, and career goals. ” Professional counseling is provided only by state-licensed masters- or doctoral-degree level counselors.
What is “Life Coaching?”
Generally speaking, life coaches work with healthy clients who are striving to improve their circumstances;, while counselors work with persons needing help and hoping to identify dysfunction or trauma to heal and resolve old pain.
The International Coach Federation (ICF), the largest coaching credentialing and support organization in the world, defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. Professional coaches provide an ongoing partnership designed to help clients produce fulfilling results in their personal and professional lives. Coaches help people improve their performances and enhance the quality of their lives. Coaches are trained to listen, to observe and to customize their approach to individual client needs. They seek to elicit solutions and strategies from the client; they believe the client is naturally creative and resourceful. The coach’s job is to provide support to enhance the skills, resources and creativity that the client already has.”
Life coaches should not take on clients who have serious mental or emotional problems — problems such as substance abuse, major depression and personality disorders. Such clients should be referred to an appropriate mental health professional for a thorough evaluation and resume coaching work only after the client is emotionally stable.
Unfortunately, though, many people who call themselves “life coaches” do not possess the knowledge or skills to recognize people with serious mental or emotional problems. In other words, they sometimes “get in over their heads,” and can do far more harm than good.
Life Coaching is profoundly different from counseling, consulting, mentoring, advice, or therapy. The coach supports the client in achieving specific personal or professional goals by providing training and guidance. The coaching process addresses specific personal projects, business successes, general conditions and transitions in the client’s personal life, relationships or profession by examining what is going on right now, discovering what your obstacles or challenges might be, and choosing a course of action to make your life be what you want it to be.