I often get asked about the difference between coaching, counseling, mentoring and consulting. While the communication skills used by these professions are similar – such as asking questions, active listening, summarizing, etc, they are very different methods and it depends on what the client needs. Here are some distinctions:
Coaching – according to the International Coach Federation coaching is defined as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.” The coach is the subject matter expert at coaching, not necessarily the subject matter expert of the client’s coaching topic.
Counseling – according to the CoActive Coaching, the boundary between coaching and counseling is not defined by a set of absolute rules or terms. In general, counselors are trained to diagnose and help client with emotional problems, the past or dysfunction while coaches are not. The coach’s domain is future oriented – what does the client want? And then coaching the client to get there.
Mentoring– a mentor is a wise and trusted guide and advisor. The mentor is the teacher that shares their experience while bringing the “mentee” up the ranks. A coach is not necessarily the subject matter expert in order to help develop the client.
Consulting – a consultant is an expert who is called on for professional or technical advice or opinions. They are relied on to understand the problem and present solutions. Consulting is unlike coaching because with pure coaching, the answers come from the client.
What are your thoughts about these distinctions?
For more resources, see the Library topic Personal and Professional Coaching.
There’s interesting recent aspects of the boundaries between the terms. I’m hearing that the field of counseling (which has many different philosophies, of course) is moving to more strength-based approaches based on going from the client’s present to the future (like coaching) and less treatment based on analysis of the clients past. So from that aspect, counseling and coaching are becoming similar. Also, I’m hearing that mentors are more successful with mentees when they incorporate coaching into their styles of guiding and supporting mentees. So that’s another example of where the line is blurred. Finally, consultants can be quite effective in guiding major change when they resort to more facilitative styles and less expert-based styles. Many people might assert that the style of coaching is a facilitative style. So the lines here are becoming blurred, too.
Thanks for your insight. I agree the lines are blurring. Many consultants are using an “interactive consulting” style which incorporates a “coach approach”. Many coaches are including consulting and offer more ideas, solutions, options, or advice. It is important for coaches to know their boundaries/limitations and follow the ICF Code of Ethics “I will suggest my client seek the services of other professionals when deemed necessary or appropriate. “
Clear distinctions about the various ‘helping’ professionals provide needed services to identified individuals. I particularly agreed with the differences listed for counseling. Providing such information makes for intelligent consumers.
I am a doctoral student looking for suggestions for either articles or books specifically addressing ethical dilemmas within mentoring?