Is this a coaching or a counseling issue?
What do you do when you’re coaching someone and you enter into a conversation that has the potential to become a counseling appointment? The two disciplines, coaching and counseling, bleed into each other and it is important to keep clear boundaries.

Written By Gary Reinecke

ICF Master Certified Coach, Resource Designer, Mission Strategist : InFocus

People approach coaching with various ideas that may or may not line up with what coaching actually is.

Here’s a quick overview of the distinctions between coaching and counseling the two disciplines, taken from an article authored by Linda Miller, a coach and marriage family counselor.

Making Distinctions between Coaching and Counseling

 

Coaching Counseling (traditional model)
Action Understanding and issues
Present to future focus Past to present focus
Create and design Repair and resolve
Expertise lies within person being coached Expertise lies within counselor
Promote discovery Give answers and advice
Future possibilities Past events
What and how Why
Proactive Curative
Achievement Healing
Joy Happiness

Used with permission – Linda Miller, MCC for publication in REV Magazine On Purpose Ministry © April 2003

During this season of adjusting to a new normal in our post-COVID world, it is important to be clear what you’re about. And when clients move into counseling territory on the right side of the chart above and you are not qualified, be aware and refer your client to a qualified counselor.

Clients in Search of Joy

coaching or counseling

I have found this chart to be very helpful in my own coaching experience.  

Years ago a leader I was coaching asked me to help him find ways to discover “joy” in his life.

This really threw me. I wasn’t clear what he was asking, so I asked some questions to clarify what he really wanted.

You see how “joy” fits in the coaching column? After clarifying with my client that he wasn’t asking questions better suited for a counselor, I was able to coach him in the precise way he needed. 

For many leaders, discovering joy is a real challenge today. If you find someone not feeling quite themselves or at a low point, it might be time to have an honest conversation about how things are going. Serving them as a friend could mean having a simple conversation where they feel heard, connecting them to a coach, or, in some cases, encouraging them to seek out counseling.

Coaching Questions to Actionize for Joy

  1. What is the most memorable season of your life that was joyful?
  2. What made it joyful?
  3. How can you learn from that experience and apply in your life today?
  4. If you were able to arrive at a joyful place, how would you celebrate that?
  5. Who would you include?
  6. What do you sense the Lord saying to you about “joy”?
  7. How can you thank the Lord?

Plan to Grow As a Coach

Register for the Fall Coaching Excellence GrowthTrack!

The Coaching Excellence GrowthTrack combines the best in coach training resources with wisdom from ICF Certified Master Coach, Gary Reinecke and Coaching Pioneer, Bob Logan. 

  • Assess for your strengths and areas for improvement
  • Create a custom action plan for your development as a coach
  • Implement proven strategies for lasting change
  • Connect with a coach-mentor and peer coaches

Register today and receive 10% off! LEARN MORE HERE.

Photo by Allef Vinicius on Unsplash

Cover Photo Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Your coaching business depends on THIS

You want to be the one people look to when they need help or when they are ready to do what it takes to make their dreams come true. To be that person, there is one area that you absolutely cannot let falter…

4 Keys to Effective Fundraising

When coaching people in the nonprofit sector the topic of fundraising is bound to come up. Here are some tips to help.

Simple Ministry Assessment

Your clients have plans and systems in place. The big question: Are they working? Help the ministry leaders you coach take a clear-eyed snapshot of where their ministry current is while creating action items with this simple ministry assessment.

What is your vision to cultivate leaders?

Every church should have a leadership development system. Even if that system is currently working, it needs to be assessed regularly to meet changing needs. Here are the basics that every leadership development system should have…

How to connect with high-level leaders

You want to build your coaching business but you don’t want to feel like a salesperson working on commission. The good news is: you don’t need to work up a semi-uncomfortable sales pitch and practice delivering it. Here’s what to do instead…

Get your clients ready for change

You are coaching change leaders, people who need to get others on board and growing toward to what’s next. Here’s a simple way to gauge the level of receptivity for change and discover the way forward.

What is the best way to turn a corner? 

The ultimate goal of coaching is to help clients change their lives for the better and grow personally and in their ministries. As you help people prepare for what’s next, it’s important to help them slow down, assess and adjust so they can round the next corner with confidence. Here’s how…

You can effectively coach clients through change

How change REALLY happens—and what you as a coach can do to facilitate healthy, effective change for your clients.

Coaching for healthy work/life balance

Most people you coach don’t suffer from laziness.  Your clients live life in the margins.  When push comes to shove they sacrifice their health (spiritual, mental, physical) in their efforts to lead well.

Ready to grow your coaching business?

Want to grow your coaching business? Here are 5 Steps to get you (and keep you) on track.