What is Life Coaching?
Coaching is a powerful alliance designed to
forward and enhance the lifelong process of
human learning, effectiveness and fulfilment
Coaching shares a broad approach and has some similarities with training, teaching, consultancy, counselling, therapy and mentoring. However, there are crucial differences, too:
Counselling usually works remedially on a client's problems. The client usually feels uncomfortable or dissatisfied with their life.
Therapy is for a client who seeks relief from psychological and/or physical symptoms. The client wants emotional healing.
Note: the client's motive in therapy and counselling is usually to get away from pain or discomfort rather than moving towards desired goals. Both therapy and counselling are likely to involve understanding and working with past experience.
Coaching is not remedial but generative with a time focus of the present and future i.e. it is focused on generating a range of options leading to action in the present in order to facilitate the client towards their future, planned goals. The approach is centred on action rather than understanding.
Training is the process of acquiring knowledge or skills by study and experience. The trainer is usually the expert; they know and can do something the student cannot. Training is usually one to many rather than one to one.
Teaching is similar to training in that the teacher knows something the student does not. The student usually learns directly. The learner has questions; the teacher has answers.
Note: training and teaching are similar to coaching in that they usually focus on skills, but the approach is different. The student learns directly from the teacher or trainer.
In coaching , the role of the coach is to ask questions and give encouragement and support, rather than give answers. It is usually one to one (though there is also group or team coaching).
Consultancy. A consultant has the expertise to solve business problems and usually deals with the overall business or specific parts of it, not with the individuals within it.
Mentoring. A mentor is a senior colleague who gives advice and provides a role model. Mentoring is not so goal-focused as coaching and the discussions will be wide-ranging. A mentor usually has a lot of experience in the client's field of business.
With business coaching, the effect on the business is indirect, and knowledge/experience of the client's business is unnecessary (though useful). The direction, unlike management, is non-directive.
Coaching is neither counselling nor therapy, nor can it generate miracles, though it's great to expect them to occur in your life! It is, instead, a practical approach designed to enable you to make your dreams a reality and become the kind of person you want to be.
(I gratefully acknowledge the publication Co-active Coaching by Whitworth, Kinsey-house and Sandahl upon which the content of this page is based)
Counselling usually works remedially on a client's problems. The client usually feels uncomfortable or dissatisfied with their life.
Therapy is for a client who seeks relief from psychological and/or physical symptoms. The client wants emotional healing.
Note: the client's motive in therapy and counselling is usually to get away from pain or discomfort rather than moving towards desired goals. Both therapy and counselling are likely to involve understanding and working with past experience.
Coaching is not remedial but generative with a time focus of the present and future i.e. it is focused on generating a range of options leading to action in the present in order to facilitate the client towards their future, planned goals. The approach is centred on action rather than understanding.
Training is the process of acquiring knowledge or skills by study and experience. The trainer is usually the expert; they know and can do something the student cannot. Training is usually one to many rather than one to one.
Teaching is similar to training in that the teacher knows something the student does not. The student usually learns directly. The learner has questions; the teacher has answers.
Note: training and teaching are similar to coaching in that they usually focus on skills, but the approach is different. The student learns directly from the teacher or trainer.
In coaching , the role of the coach is to ask questions and give encouragement and support, rather than give answers. It is usually one to one (though there is also group or team coaching).
Consultancy. A consultant has the expertise to solve business problems and usually deals with the overall business or specific parts of it, not with the individuals within it.
Mentoring. A mentor is a senior colleague who gives advice and provides a role model. Mentoring is not so goal-focused as coaching and the discussions will be wide-ranging. A mentor usually has a lot of experience in the client's field of business.
With business coaching, the effect on the business is indirect, and knowledge/experience of the client's business is unnecessary (though useful). The direction, unlike management, is non-directive.
Coaching is neither counselling nor therapy, nor can it generate miracles, though it's great to expect them to occur in your life! It is, instead, a practical approach designed to enable you to make your dreams a reality and become the kind of person you want to be.
(I gratefully acknowledge the publication Co-active Coaching by Whitworth, Kinsey-house and Sandahl upon which the content of this page is based)