Counseling, Coaching or Mental Fitness Coaching?

Coaching or Counseling was the name of a post written by Dr. Tara J. Palmatier,  She asked:

What’s the difference between coaching and counseling? How do I decide which is right for me? These are good questions. I asked myself these questions when I first heard the term “life coach.

What more did Dr. Palmatier say?

What is my new analogy to explain the differences between counseling, coaching and mental fitness training?

Dr. Palmatier described the differences between counseling and coaching as:

"Counseling oftentimes has a “there and then” focus. What happened in the past that brought you to your current state of distress? Therapy helps an individual understand and work through this in order to let go of the pain and move forward. Coaching has a “here and now” focus. Where are you in your life, where would you like to go and how do you get there?"

Remember Atlanta Life Coach, Nancy Birnbaum-Gerber's of Stepping Stones analogy and my inclusion of mental fitness training in my blog, The Differences Between Therapy, Coaching, and Mental Fitness Training.

If life is like a ball of yarn, therapy helps you unravel the tangles.  Coaching helps you knit a sweater.  Mental fitness training provides the needles for knitting the sweater.

I loved that analogy.  How about this one from the world of computers:

If life is like a messed up computer program, therapy debugs the program, coaching creates a new program, and mental fitness provides the tools for doing either.

Remember, You Live within the Environment Created by Your Choices!

Dr. Hal

Life and Mental Fitness Coach

Comments

[Shama Hyder]

If life is like a ball of yarn, therapy helps you unravel the tangles. Coaching helps you knit a sweater.

I love that! Great post.