The Blog.

What is the difference between coaching, mentoring, consulting and counselling (therapy)?

This blog covers:

What happens in each

The type of relationship and who takes ownership of the development

Emotional involvement

Helps to shed light on which may be the best option for you.

Counselling

Often covers past trauma or where clients seek healing. 

A therapist will guide you in a doctor patient type relationship.

Emotions are involved and are typically symptoms or indicators of where things may be wrong.

This option is good for clients who need to work through their past.

Coaching

Future focused, get clear on goals and unblock barriers. 

Coach assists client in self discovery and is a more equal partnership.

Coaching normalises any emotions as natural and part of the development journey.

Coaching is the best option for individuals who are are looking to turn challenges into victories but are ready to move forwards.

Mentoring

For clients who want to gain knowledge from someone with experience in the field.

A mentor will have more experience and can offer advice based on their experience. They can tell you how they did it.

The client may have a space to vent and share issues. Emotional responses are limited and within the scope of the mentoring topic.

For clients who are looking to rapidly increase their knowledge and gain solutions but will consider how the learning applies to their situation and takes responsibility for what they need to do and their actions.

Consulting

Consults provide information and solutions to solve problems.

They provide an expert relationship where the consultant will evaluate the situation, tell you what the problem is and tells you what to do / how to fix it.

Consultants generally do not deal with emotions.

This option is best for clients who are looking to pay an expert to make decisions and progress their organisation to where it needs to be.

At The Coaching Studio, we provide both coaching and mentoring.

As coaching is question based, coaches do not need the same background as the client. Having a different background may also help the coach to help you see a different perspective. Coaching is an encouraging environment where you can self-discover the solution, take commitment to action and feel confident moving forwards towards goals. It also provides a safe and comfortable environment to receive feedback and challenge any assumptions or beliefs that may have previously held you back.

Mentoring is a much more fast paced conversation and more solution focussed. Here at The Coaching Studio we do provide mentoring in the area of managing or leading change, leadership, career development. Mentoring would provide quick answers based on experience to help you discover ideas and advance quickly.