What Is the Difference Between Coaching and Counseling?
Maybe you’ve heard of couples counseling or relationship coaching. You may have seen couples talk to therapists on TV or heard of friends who’ve met with coaches before getting married. But what is the difference between coaching and counseling? And which one is right for your relationship?
What is couples coaching?
Coaches work with healthy relationships (although we recognize no relationship is perfect)
Coaching typically happens before your wedding or early in your marriage
Coaches are trained to help you gain valuable skills in topics like communication, conflict resolution and budgeting
Coaches help you look forward and plan ahead to avoid issues in your marriage
What is couples counseling?
Counselors are trained to help couples talk through the personal dynamics of a conflict, with special attention to each member’s emotional experience in order to get to the roots of problems
Counseling can happen anytime in your relationship, including when the relationship is stable or unstable, or when a betrayal or loss has occurred
Counselors may explore the past with you to help resolve wounds that currently influence your relationship.
The purpose of relationship coaching
At Thrive Couples Coaching our coaches work with couples who want to build skills and learn conversational techniques that form the foundation for a healthy marriage.
Our coaching sessions allow you to do four main things:
Discover the strengths in your relationship and figure out how to get the most out of them.
Develop excellent communication and conflict resolution skills which enable you to tackle the toughest situations with respect and love.
Determine your main growth areas and gain skills to avoid common pitfalls in relationships.
Dedicate time and energy to figuring out the best ways to keep your love fun and exciting through the years.
Interested in coaching? Learn more about our couples coaching packages!
Or if you think you and your partner might be better suited for counseling, we would be happy to refer you to one of our many counselor colleagues.
Coaching VS Counseling: Which one is right for your relationship?
While both coaching and counseling are useful to couples, they serve very different purposes. Coaching is about building the skills you need for the future while counseling is about repairing problems from the past. Coaching works best at the beginning of a marriage to give you the tools you need to avoid struggle, while counseling is more helpful for couples who are currently struggling or in crisis.
Think of your marriage or relationship like running a marathon. Coaching is the stretching and training you do before you run the race. It’s how you prepare, build up your skills and ensure you can finish the race strong. Whereas counseling is what helps you get back on your feet if you fall and are injured during the race.
Ready to book? Great, you can book your coaching package here. Still have questions? Get it touch!