"You don’t have to keep going at full speed to prove your strength. Sometimes, the strongest thing you can do is stop and reflect."

The major difference between these two professions is the training and accreditation required for each.  Counsellors are required to complete an in-depth professional practitioner training programme, based on internationally recognised standards of quality and competence, which provides training in reflective, competent, and ethical practice including an integral, supervised clinical placements, allowing them to work within an organisation and practise their skills with clients under supervision before attaining accreditation to practice.  They also require specific training and expertise in the specific subject matter that they focus on.

Coaches do not have to go through such rigorous training.  They are more process and development orientated and do not require extensive expertise in any specific area.  That said, many coaches will have done additional training in order to offer their clients more value.

Possibly the most important difference between these two approaches is their focus. Counselling, or psychotherapy, focuses on understanding, resolving, and healing emotional trauma and pain carried over from the past. Coaching, on the other hand, is focused on the present and future.

Coaches help you identify goals, leverage your personal strengths, and take action.  Therefore, the focus is very different from counselling.

Another very important difference between these is that counsellors are trained to aid those who are dealing with mental health problems, while coaches are not.  While coaching may inadvertently help with aspects of mental health, practitioners have not been trained in the critical elements of this psychological state.

For this reason, if you are dealing with anxiety, depression, self-destructive behaviour or other mental health issues, it is best to contact a counsellor.

The relationship between counsellor and client differs from that of coach and client.  Each may offer their professional perspectives on your position while encouraging you to reach your own conclusions, but they do this in different ways.

A counsellor will focus on helping you notice, understand, and heal from different aspects of your life.  They can offer advice and guidance on how to move forward, and you can discuss your path with them.

A coach, on the other hand, has a more collaborative relationship with their client.  Considered a ‘thinking partner’, coaches work with you to identify challenges that you want to address.  They then hold you accountable and support you in dealing with these challenges in a healthy manner, enabling you to achieve the goals you previously identified.

In both coaching and counselling, you will talk with a trained professional.  However, in therapy, you will most likely engage in unstructured sessions in which you will guide what is talked about.  This does depend on the type of therapy you are engaging in, but it is the general framework for counselling.

Coaching, in contrast, is more structured and focused on actionable strategies and external growth.  As coaches are process experts, their approach will depend on the individual.