How Is Coaching Different Than Mentoring, Consulting and Counseling?
I’m often asked how coaching differs from mentoring, consulting, and counseling. In honor of International Coaching Week, I'll answer that question and share how to choose the right coach for your needs and goals.
Since the coaching profession is unregulated, many people call themselves coaches when, in fact, they are mentors, counselors, consultants, or even teachers. Those are admirable roles and serve a distinct purpose. But I’ve seen way too many untrained people call themselves a “coach” and end up with frustrated clients. And people who had bad experiences now don’t trust trained coaches.
Full disclosure: Because of stories I’ve heard, I’ve become a bit of a coach snob … and I have to use a lot of self-control to keep my mouth shut when someone says they are going to start charging people for coaching because they think they can help them (but don’t have any training). It would be like saying you’re a counselor just because you like helping people solve their problems. We’d raise an eyebrow at that, right? Someone could be harmed.
My goal is to help you understand the differences between these roles and define what a coach does compared to them. So you can hire the right person for your needs.
Before you choose who you work with … decide what you really want and need. For example,
Do you need help processing something hard from your past?
Do you need someone to show you how to build your business?
Do you need someone to teach you how to do a new skill?
Do you need someone to help you prepare for marriage?
If you said yes to any of those three questions, you don’t need a coach. You need a counselor, a consultant, a mentor, or a teacher.
Other Professions Compared to Coaches:
These definitions are quoted or adapted from my training through Creative Results Management.
Counselor – seeks to discover issues in the client’s past that are blocking them from success. Special techniques and tools are used to understand these issues and bring healing and closure, so the client may move forward. While coaches and counselors may use many of the same dialog techniques, coaching begins in the present and is future-oriented.
Mentor – someone who has expertise in a particular area and shares that learning with the mentee. Mentors provide knowledge, advice, guide, correct, and encourage in their field of expertise. A mentor works within their profession, whereas a coach with good discovery, change, and communication skills can coach anyone.
Consultants – specialists who are paid for solutions. They diagnose the problem and propose a solution. They often implement business strategies as well. Coaches also focus on solutions, but draw solutions out of the client. Coaches support the client in creating a plan of action and implementing it. Ultimately, clients gain long-term problem-solving capacity.
Some consultants, counselors, or mentors also mix in coaching tools. Why? Because asking questions is one of the most powerful ways for someone to discover what is inside them. And studies show that when you decide for yourself, you will stick to it better than if someone told you what to do.
What is a Coach?
Coaching is set apart by the way a coach approaches a conversation with a client. Coaches do not teach but help you through a process of discovery by using active listening skills, asking powerful questions, expanding thought processes, identifying limited beliefs, designing action steps, and following up.
Keith Webb, a leading expert in the field of coaching, says it this way:
To most leaders, professional coaching practices are counterintuitive. Take a look at these characteristics:
Coaches don’t talk, they listen.
Coaches don’t give information, they ask questions.
Coaches don’t offer ideas, they generate ideas from clients.
Coaches don’t share their story, they tap into the client’s experience.
Coaches don’t present solutions, they expand the client’s thinking.
Coaches don’t give recommendations, they empower clients to choose.
Why it Matters to Find a Certified Coach
The leading credential authority in the coaching profession is the International Coach Federation, or ICF. They have set standards for training in the Core Competencies and Ethics. They offer a consistent roadmap that identifies what makes great coaching. The Christian version of ICF is CCNI. They hold the same standards as ICF.
I went through a training program that required many hours of training, practice, and mentoring. The training was LIVE. This is an important distinction. The programs that offer recordings cannot ensure the coach can demonstrate the skills they learn from a video. This is similar to the accountability counselors get with supervision. My coaching calls were reviewed, and I was mentored on how to improve. Once I completed that and received my certification, I had to take a 3-hour test and complete over 100 hours of coaching clients before I could earn the ICF coach credential. It’s a major time and financial investment. At the time of this publication, I’ve coached over 3000 hours and have had over 200 hours of training and mentoring. I’m about to take my exam and apply for MCC.
If you’re looking for a professional coach who has been 3rd-party approved, ask whether the coach is ICF and if they are ACC, PCC, or MCC. (Associate, Professional, or Master Coach). These three levels of ICF credentials indicate the number of coaching and training hours they have completed to improve their skills.
Why do credentials matter? Because you want to find someone who can help you reach your goals faster and have client testimonials with significant breakthroughs. There are people who say finding an ICF coach doesn’t matter. I get it … Tony Robbins and others are not ICF. I caution you to invest with someone who has not been accountable to anyone for their coaching skills. There are just too many self-declared coaches who think coaching is giving advice. (So much to say about this topic, so it will wait until another day.)
Freedom Coaching®
I coach people with traditional coaching (ICF) in business, relationships, spiritual, and personal development goals. I love seeing people discover the greatness already inside them and reach their God-given potential. Freedom Coaching helps clients who feel stuck and don’t know why. Often, there is a spiritual root that even the best questions cannot reach.
In Freedom Coaching, we may step out of the coaching modality for a moment and turn to God for answers. We blend traditional coaching with inner-healing tools. I often ask certain questions and lead people through specific prayers. The key is that the client asks God the question and listens to Him for an answer. This is done through various tools like Conversational Prayer, Lies/Truth, Fruit of the Spirit, H.E.A.L Model, God’s Plan, and many more.
I developed The Freedom Framework and The Freedom Coach Model® as tools within Freedom Coaching. It’s similar to the resources coaches use, such as StrengthsFinder, DISC, and other self-discovery and goal-setting modalities. It provides structure for each session and offers topical tools when needed.
I wrote the Freedom Coach Model as a book because my clients wanted to go through the questions and prayers again. It has 20 different topics for you to talk to God about. I suggest questions to ask in prayer and offer a place to journal as you discover God’s heart. It can’t replace one-on-one coaching, but it has helped people worldwide encounter the love of God.
Based on Biblical truth, we search the heart of God together. Sometimes it means walking through forgiveness, hearing what He has to say about lies they’ve believed, or just sitting in His presence and receiving His love. Then we set goals to maintain their freedom. I have seen clients thrive as they meet their goals, enter into healthy relationships, move into promotion, and become all God created them to be.
P.S. In 2023, I created a certification program to train coaches. It’s called The Freedom Certification Training Program. You can learn more about it on my website. Applications are open once a year.
A Note About Counseling vs Coaching
I work with a lot of people who have gone through spiritual abuse. I’ve written extensively about that on my blog and Substack. My website has a whole page of various resources. I am also a certified trauma-informed coach. In short, trauma-informed means I know enough to understand trauma responses. I can coach people through those experiences with a high degree of success because of my training and in-depth understanding of religious trauma.
But I don’t believe anyone should coach someone who is freshly traumatized from things like loss of a loved one, addictions, personality disorders, or sexual or physical abuse. That is for counselors who can diagnose and treat using evidence-based tools such as EMDR and IFS (Internal Family Systems).
Some clients who have had counseling want to explore coaching. They wondered how it differed from their experience meeting with counselors. Moving from counseling to coaching meant they didn’t want to look back anymore. They felt that dwelling on the past was restricting their untapped potential. They knew they needed a different modality but didn’t know what to look for. Experiencing coaching gave them a consistent person to process life with (like a counselor). Coaching does not ignore the past, but allows it to inform them of why they get stuck and how to rise to the challenge of dreaming bigger and reaching goals. A coach is trained to do exactly that. Some people like having both a counselor and a coach. There is value in both—they are just different.
I know I’m biased, but I believe everyone needs a coach. I know how it’s changed my life and my clients’ lives. If you want to discuss coaching, feel free to schedule a discovery call with me. Or learn more by visiting this page on my website.
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