Exploring the distinctions between life coaching, consulting, and counseling is essential for anyone seeking professional guidance. These fields, while often overlapping, serve different purposes and approaches to help clients achieve their goals. Here, we look in-depth into the core differences among these three. We highlight how each role uniquely supports individuals on their journey to success.
Life Coaching, Consulting, and Counseling: Different Roles
The Role of a Life Coach
- Coaching is about moving the client from where they are to where they want to be.
- A client goes to a coach to change, enhance, or improve some area of their life, e.g., to lose weight, change jobs, improve a relationship, or have a better life balance.
- The coach then establishes outcomes the client wishes to achieve, asks powerful questions, develops a plan, and helps the client be accountable for achieving that plan.
- Coaching does not focus on the past and what happened previously in one’s life. Rather, it focuses on the present and helping people move from this point forward.
- Coaching is about empowering the person and trusting they have the answers within them.
The Role of a Consultant
Consulting is about advising, giving suggestions, and/or information to your client. Unlike coaching, the consultant tells the client what to do, rather than guiding them to find their own answers. A coach can give advice occasionally, but it is not the primary role of a coach.
If someone has a professional area of expertise, they can sell consulting in that area to their client as well as have a separate Life Coaching business.
The Role of a Counselor or Psychotherapist
Counseling, or psychotherapy, is about healing deep emotional issues, usually arising from the past. Perhaps someone had a difficult childhood, experienced abuse or trauma, or is in the thick of an addiction. Others may experience mental illness, such as being bipolar, having an anxiety disorder, or chronic depression.
Most people have situational anxiety or depression from a life event (like coping with COVID-19). However, what determines the need for a therapist is the severity and length of the problem, as well as the level of functioning in their day-to-day.
Functioning means being able to accomplish simple daily tasks, such as working, eating, sleeping, concentrating, showering, etc. If a client is not functioning then a psychotherapist or counselor is best suited to work with that client.
Chronic and negative relationship patterns are also best addressed by a therapist. There are many situations then that require a psychotherapist or counselor rather than a coach.
Blurring the Lines: When Roles Overlap
While a life coach, consultant, and counselor each have distinct roles, there are instances where these professions overlap. A life coach might provide occasional consulting, offering suggestions to clients. Whereas, a consultant or therapist might incorporate coaching techniques to help clients achieve specific goals.
However, it is important for life coaches and consultants to avoid crossing into therapeutic territory. Counseling and psychotherapy are governed by strict laws and ethical standards, and unqualified professionals should not attempt to provide therapy.
That’s one reason if you are considering becoming a Life Coach that you obtain a professional Life Coach Certification and an ICF credential. This enables you to know where those lines are and can refer when necessary. It also makes certain you have the necessary training to be able to handle a variety of situations that come up. This can range around the client’s emotions, difficult situations in their lives, and ways they cope with those challenges.
Achieving Results with Different Outcomes
Coaching is focused on getting the clients to move forward and achieve results in each session. The coach commits to action steps each week and is held accountable to achieve those action steps. Progress happens each session, so the client continues to get results consistently throughout the coaching process.
Counseling can get results but they usually take usually take longer to achieve. The primary driver in therapy is healing and awareness, along with any solutions that come from there. As a result, the client’s progress is a deep process but usually takes longer to see results than in coaching or consulting. With some difficult mental health conditions, there may be no or next to no progress.
Consultants suggest results that will meet the client’s needs, yet it is usually left to the client to implement these changes. Therefore, the outcome can be inconsistent depending on the client’s initiative.
All these professions, life coaching, consulting, and counseling, are valuable and help clients succeed. The key is choosing the right professional for the task.
For those looking to enhance their personal growth and professional development, consider joining the Life Purpose Institute. As an ICF-Accredited Coach Training School, they offer inclusive Life Coach and Spiritual Coach Certification programs designed to provide you with the tools and support needed to thrive.
With small group classes, personalized attention, and ongoing support, Life Purpose Institute is committed to helping you succeed as a coach. Grab the opportunity to connect with a supportive community and gain the skills to make a positive impact on others’ lives while enriching your own.
Fern is the Founder and Director of the Life Purpose Institute, Inc. Before working as a coach; she was a mental health counselor, social worker, and career counselor. She developed her unique coaching method in 1984 and has assisted thousands of people in her coaching practice in making positive life and career changes. Fern developed a strong and compelling vision to help people discover their purpose, move forward in all areas of their life, and create a life they love.
After serving for many years as a Life Coach and licensed therapist in her private practice, she began training coaches internationally to perform this important work. Fern wrote and developed comprehensive manuals and materials for the Life Coach Certification and Spiritual Coach Training Programs.
Want to learn more about the programs at Life Purpose Institute? Schedule a Free Consultation to speak one-on-one with a Program Specialist and get all your questions answered.