Is counselling and coaching the right approach for you?

Coaching and counselling are very different methods of helping people. For a long time, clients have had to choose one or the other. Sometimes through the process of coaching, a client may realise they have a problem the coach is not qualified to help with. This client may then begrudgingly stop working with their coach to access a different type of help. However, dual-qualified therapists and coaches are out there.

A quick search of the Counselling Directory shows over 300 practitioners (in London alone) who mention 'coach' or 'coaching' on their profiles. In 2022, the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) formally recognised counselling coaching. This article shines a light on what counselling coaching is, and whether it could be a good approach for you.  

What is the difference between coaching and counselling?

If we use the metaphor of a journey, coaching work tends to start with a destination. Maybe to change jobs, reach a life goal, or tackle a career problem. A coach helps the client to identify different routes, transport options, and potential barriers before embarking on the journey. They will help the client to plan the best route and mode of transport for them and they might even teach a relevant skill, such as map reading.  

When a client starts counselling, often they don’t have a destination in mind, but they really don’t like where they are. Rather than a journey that’s progressing, it could feel like being stuck at a station with cancelled trains, alone, in the middle of a storm. A scary, sad, or angry place. A therapist may offer companionship in this dark moment. Offering warmth and sitting alongside them to lessen the loneliness. In their own time, the client may explore ways to cope or move forwards. The therapist offers support, reflections and compassion as they do so.

What does an integrated approach look like?

Counselling coaches work flexibly depending on the client. It could be mostly coaching with a dash of counselling or mainly counselling with a splash of coaching. They start by understanding what the client is seeking help with and how they would prefer to work. Counselling coaches set clear boundaries, so the client feels safe, and check in regularly to make sure they are getting what they need.

If a client’s preference is to take more of a coaching approach, the counsellor coach will check before delving into anything deeper or emotional. For example, Alan* was struggling at work. His new boss was “toxic” and micromanaging. Having a sense of work/life balance felt impossible. Alan would lie awake at night worrying about disappointing his boss and losing his job. He felt a spiralling sense of anxiety.

The idea of going to therapy was too much, adding another layer of pressure. He wanted to do something, not talk about how he felt. So, he found a counsellor coach who could provide some structure and help him think through his options. Within coaching, he tested out new ways of communicating with his boss and setting boundaries.

When they didn’t work, he found himself angry, disappointed and questioning his self-worth. His counsellor coach reflected on the strength of his emotion and asked if it would be helpful to spend a bit of time exploring it. Alan agreed and whilst talking realised his boss reminded him of his dad. He described always feeling nervous of his dad, who was never satisfied and picked fault with him. He started to remember lying awake as a teenager, worrying about what his dad thought of him.

In this example, by delving a bit deeper, Alan gained clarity about what he was experiencing and why. He started with a preference for coaching and drew upon counselling when he hit a particularly difficult and emotional obstacle.  

If the client’s preference is to have more counselling, again the counsellor coach will take their lead. For example, Sam* came to counselling describing feeling like she was slipping down a massive crevice. She had been here before and fallen all the way in so felt terrified of being back in that dark, depressing place. She sought out a counsellor, looking for comfort in sharing her fear with another person. With regular sessions, she started to feel more hopeful and less afraid. Slowly, she no longer felt herself slipping further into the hole.

One day she arrived at her session agitated and distracted. Her counsellor noticed and reflected this back. Sam said, “I’m just fed up with all this talking, I don’t feel like I am getting anywhere – I want something concrete, I need a list of actions or something!” They agreed to shift their focus from where she is now, to where she wants to be. Her counsellor coach asked structured questions and helped to draw out several goals, which they turned into an action plan. In this example, Sam started with a preference for counselling and drew upon coaching when she started to feel more hopeful and wanted a clearer sense of direction.  

How do I find a therapist who is also a coach?

All the individuals and organisations listed on the Counselling Directory are qualified practitioners, either as a counsellor, psychotherapist, counselling psychologist or psychiatrist. When searching for a therapist, you can add “Coach” or “Coaching” to the keywords in the filter section, this will show a list of all the qualified practitioners that mention this in their profile.

Even if an individual doesn’t mention coaching, many counsellors work in a collaborative way to help clients identify and meet their goals. You could ask an individual the following questions to gain a better understanding of how they work and whether they are the right fit for you:

• How do you help clients to work towards their goals in therapy?
• How could you work flexibly with me if my focus for therapy changes?
• What boundaries will we work with, so I always feel comfortable and safe?

*Both Alan and Sam are fictional clients, intended to provide an example of how counselling coaching works.