Counselling, therapy, coaching and mentoring? | CEO Mentor

There?s someone to help you through all your brick walls ? be they personal or business. You just have to find the right person.

To save covering old ground, please first read Mentoring versus coaching ? what?s the difference? Researchers have identified more than 400 distinct models of counselling and pyschotherapy. Mentoring and coaching almost certainly have far more.

Relationship-based interventions
Counselling, therapy, mentoring and coaching are all special types of relationship-based ?interventions?

With all four,? their aim is significant change-betterment-improvement in their client?s well-being.? And in their client?s specific or over-all ?situation? ? whether that be life, work, marriage, or whatever.

Confusion between each of them arises because:
Different practioners use different names for their ?interventions?
while in some respects all four are ?talk interventions? and use similar methods or processes, their aims and content differ
each type of ?intervention? also tends to be delivered by professionals with differing experiences and qualifications with each form the intensity and quality of the relationship with their clients differ, and the domain, or environment, in which the ?intervention? occurs also has a strong impact.

For example, compare the differences between work-related performance counselling conducted between a manager and a low-performing individual.? With marriage guidance counselling conducted with a distressed couple by a skilled professional in a special couple?s relationship facility.

Principles underlying mentoring and coaching at work
As a very rough guide, generally the following principles underlie much mentoring and coaching:

They consist mainly of one-to-one developmental dialogue or conversations
They focus on the future and ?opportunities? ? more than on the past and ?problems?
They encompass personal goals like work, career, family, relationships ?
They aim to develop general-specific and individual-organisational areas/issues
They provide individuals with feedback on strengths-weaknesses, and opportunity-threats
While advice may be given, they are essentially self-directed development
They attend to a very wide range of issues plus enhancing personal skills and improving performance and satisfaction
Their time involvement and focus varies from short-term to long-term

Importantly, coaches and mentors assume their clients

are psychologically healthy with no need for clinical intervention
are self-aware, or can achieve self-awareness
experience only the normal range of neuroses and no psychoses

When these three assumptions prove invalid, the mentor or coach will refer their client on to a suitably trained and experienced counsellor or therapist.

Counselling
Once again, counselling means different things to different people.? And there are many different definitions.

One simple version is that counselling is a working relationship where you are facilitated to explore and manage what is happening in your life, work, and relationships.

Another is that counselling is a human interaction, and a series of activities, that take place when someone who is in trouble invites and allows another person into a particular kind of ?sounding board? relationship with them.

Another is that counselling, is a highly skilled intervention focused on helping you address underlying psychological issues that hinder your relationships and your work performance.

For other definitions and a summary of why they differ, see Introduction to Counselling.

More zest-filled life

Counselling aims to provide the opportunity for any individual to work towards a more satisfying, more resourceful, more zest-filled experience of life.? Understandably, each person?s needs differ.

Counselling may, therefore, deal with issues like:

personal development ? see the crossover here with mentoring and coaching
attending to and resolving specific life, work and relationship problems
handing crises
making vital decisions
reaching a higher level of personal awareness
developing personal insight and knowledge
working through complex emotions
processing feelings of inner conflict
improving relationships with others.

The Counsellor?s main role

Typically nothing is typical with counselling ? or therapy. Or for that matter mentoring, Or coaching.

However, generally the counsellor?s main role is to facilitate us working on our issues is ways that respect our values, take into account our personal resources and our capacity for choice, and considers the cultural context in which we live and work.

Counselling compared to coaching

Counselling has a broader focus and greater depth than coaching
Counselling?s main goal is to help people understand the root causes of long-standing performance problems/issues at work, whereas work coaching?s main goal is to improve an individual?s performance at work
Counselling is usually a short-term intervention, which can extend if the issues are broad and enduring. Work coaching tends for be a short-term intervention
Counselling can be used to address psycho-social as well as performance issues.? While coaching assumes a person does not require any psycho-social intervention
The agenda in counselling is generally agreed by the individuals and the counsellor.? While in coaching the agenda is typically set by the individual, but in agreement/ consultation with their work organisation
With counselling other stakeholders are rarely involved directly.? Whereas in coaching other stakeholders are quite often involved.

For a clear coverage of the diversity and forms of counselling, see An Introduction to Counselling

For a down-to-earth practical guide to counselling related to teachers but of more general use as well see Mentoring versus coaching.

Counselling therapy, or psychotherapy

?Counselling therapy, or psychotherapy, is a structured process, managed by a qualified professional, that assists people to achieve greater awareness of their feelings, thoughts, motives and behaviours and an understanding of the way in which they control our actions and state of being.

?This insight provides the foundation for people to shape their lives to overcome barriers and blockages to a more positive and fulfilling way of life.

?Counselling therapy can be thought of as a discussion, or better yet, a conversation, between an individual and their therapist??

Some reasons for seeking therapy ?

Depression or anxiety that doesn?t go away in a reasonable time
Panic attacks, phobias, and severe fears that interfere with daily living
Stress at work, home or school that feels overwhelming
Trouble getting to, or staying, asleep
Relationship and partnering issues

Eating disorders and weight management
Trouble with drugs, alcohol, smoking, or other addictive behaviours
Feeling chronically lonely or sad
Chronic worry, preoccupation, confusion or disorientation
Excessive anger, frustration or problems with physical abuse

Self-destructive or self-defeating behaviours
Suicidal thoughts and self-harm
Trouble communicating with others
Trouble making or keeping satisfying relationships
Problems that follow traumatic events or abuse

Job and career issues
Domestic violence and other forms of abuse
Issues arising due to sexuality, sexual identity or sexual orientation
Dealing with difficult life issues: e.g. death, divorce, birth of a child, firing, retiring, etc
Family issues: e.g. parent-child communication, problems with teenagers, etc

Children?s educational and emotional problems
Coping with life threatening illnesses
Life-cycle challenges: e.g. aging parents, changed sexual needs, children leaving home, retirement, etc
Personal growth: e.g. career changes, dissatisfaction with life
Men?s Communication and Lifestyle Issues
Women or men-specific issues
Social or cultural issues
Personality disorders and mental illness
Intellectual, educational and learning assessments.

Source: http://www.ceomentor.com/2012/08/13/counselling-therapy-coaching-and-mentoring/

the voice jenelle evans