What is the difference between coaching and counselling?

Ihr alle kennt die Frage; was machst du beruflich?

Meine Antwort darauf lautet: "Ich arbeite im HR in einer Baufirma und mache mich selbstständig als Beraterin."

Meist schauen mich die Leute dann fragend an. “Beraterin von was?”

"Ich bin Individualpsychologischer Beraterin."

Auch das kennt man nicht.

Was mach ich denn eigentlich genau?

You all know the question: what do you do for a living?

My answer to that is: "I work in HR for a construction company and I'm an independent counsellor."

People usually look at me questioningly. "A counsellor for what?"

"I'm an individual psychology counsellor."

They don't know that either.

What exactly do I do?

Individual psychology is a branch of psychology based on the theories and teachings of Alfred Adler. An important basic assumption of his teachings is that people actively shape their lives. Adler assumes that human behavior follows certain goals, which are often unconscious and therefore sometimes seem unclear to us. However, if we can understand the goals of our behavior, we have the opportunity to recognize alternative paths and make better decisions. Adler also places great emphasis on self-responsibility and the equality of all people. We are not helpless victims of our circumstances, but have the ability to take responsibility for our behavior and actively shape our future.

What I particularly like about individual psychology is that I can take responsibility for my life. Not everything I have experienced in my life has been nice, but I have the opportunity to change my future and have a say in where my life goes.

And what does a counsellor do?

Most of us are familiar with coaching. It is a well-known term, especially in the field of work and career. A coach is a person who supports others to achieve their personal or professional goals and realize their full potential. A coach works closely with their clients and provides them with a structured and supportive environment to define their goals, overcome challenges and make progress. It is important to note that a coach does not provide direct advice or solutions, but rather acts as a guide and supporter. A coach works with their clients to activate their own resources, skills and potential and to help them find their own answers and solutions.

I always have the image in mind that the coach is looking into the future or forward together with their client.

In counselling, on the other hand, you look into the past.

Counselling is often also called life coaching or psychosocial counselling. They are all the same thing. It is aimed at mentally healthy people who are challenged in one or more areas of their lives or who want to develop personally and get to know themselves better.

The client seeks counselling for

• relationship problems

• challenges or problems at work

• a separation

• after a death

• difficulties in making decisions

• parenting problems

• d desire to get to know yourself better or to develop yourself

• in a crises

For all these issues, we look into the past of the client in order to get to the root of the problem.

We have a large hazelnut tree in our garden. It looks beautiful in spring when the leaves start to sprout and it becomes greener and greener. But soon many of the leaves turn brown, have spots, some branches become bare and the tree looks really sick. It may be an insect infestation. But it could also be that its roots are diseased and therefore it can no longer grow healthily and bear fruit.

We could use various pesticides to combat the infestation on the branches and leaves. This will bring about a short-term improvement. Unfortunately, it will not allow the tree to recover in the long term as its roots are diseased and it will need root treatment. (I don't know if this is possible with trees... I hope you get my point). Because until we get to the root cause, we can't help the tree get better.

It is the same in crises and challenges that we encounter in life. If we don't get to the root of the problem and look at it, we won't understand a) why we behave the way we do and b) how we can change it.

The role of the counsellor is to use active listening, empathy and targeted questions to help clarify the situation and develop new solutions together with the client. Another aspect of counselling is education, also known as psychoeducation. Here, the aim of the counsellor is to broaden the client's understanding of their behavior, to provide background knowledge about mental health, the effects on their own body and their environment. Together, strategies and techniques for coping with the problems are developed and put into practice. The counsellor can help the client to identify negative thought patterns, adopt new perspectives and plan concrete steps to solve problems.

It is important to note that a counsellor cannot make a medical diagnosis or provide psychotherapeutic treatment.

Conclusion: I believe that both coaching and counselling are brilliant tools that help us to master our lives and understand ourselves better. Everyone can find out for themselves what suits them best. The choice of different counselling and coaching services is huge.

In recent years, I have become particularly aware that it is not only important to take care of our health with a healthy diet, exercise and a good work-life balance. It is also important to invest in our mental health. The results are not always immediately visible, such as with a fasting cure, where you can quickly lose 10 kg in weight. But I am convinced that it is worth investing in our mental health in the long term so that we don't lose the joy of life, relationships and ourselves.