Coaching is a field of work that addresses many types of problems and needs both inside and outside of companies. For this reason, there are not rare occasions in which coaching is confused with other disciplines, such as Psychology or consulting.
In this article we will briefly see What are the most important differences between coaches, psychologists and consultants?
What differences are there between coaches and psychologists?
The first difference has to do with training. Psychologists, to be psychologists, need to finish a 4 or 5-year university degree depending on the country; The trajectory includes the completion of practices and several exams in each of the courses.
On the other hand, to be a coach it is not necessary to complete a university degree, and degrees and certificates can be issued by organizations that are not part of the university world. Of course, it is possible to be a psychologist and coach, and in fact it is becoming more common.
Furthermore, sociologically, The teaching staff of coaching training centers tend to be more linked to the business field and private practice than in the field of scientific research, the latter being much more common in the university environment.
The second difference has to do with the objective of each discipline. Although Psychology is a science with an enormous and varied scope of application and research, historically it has been linked to the prevention and treatment of mental health problems, and forms of discomfort derived from personal relationships or disability. to achieve good living conditions given a given context (for example, learning problems, arguments at home, etc.).
On the other hand, coaching is positioned more as a tool not aimed at solving or preventing severe problems that damage people’s quality of life, but rather at Harnessing people’s potential to promote satisfaction and well-being where there may be much more
Two of its main focuses are the realization of personal projects with meaning for the person, on the one hand, and the promotion of professional careers and teamwork dynamics, on the other. In this way, the work of the coach can be divided into two fronts: personal coaching, on the one hand, and business or executive coaching on the other (or career coaching, if the goal is to reorient a person’s career by looking beyond a specific organization).
Of course, these two domains can overlap, and in fact it is very common for them to happen: think for example of the case of an elite athlete who needs to learn theoretical-practical principles of self-motivation and discipline.
What are the differences between coaches and consultants?
We come to another source of frequent confusion: the line that separates coaches from consultants. To address this distinction, we are going to talk only about business coaching, since this is what can be confused with the work of consultants.
In this case, we must keep in mind that A consultant is above all a person with very specialized training who helps companies to carry out a series of specific tasks, which are important to carry out projects or to satisfy the demands of your clients on a day-to-day basis. No specific training is needed to be a consultant, beyond your own training in the subject from which you help the contracting party: accounting, law, translation, etc.
So, The usefulness and effectiveness of consultants can usually be measured quantitatively in the short or medium term (although by having technical knowledge that the contracting company does not understand, sometimes it is difficult to really know if the investment pays off, lacking the criteria to know if progress is being made or not).
If the consultants provide information and experience related to the content of the work, Coaches provide information and experience related to how to work and what is the direction in which this work should be oriented, taking into account the company’s philosophy and the needs and motivational factors that influence workers.
That’s why, The dynamics of communication, conflict resolution and leadership in general are part of the main topics of coaching while consultants focus more on the technical, what needs to be worked on.
Do you want to train in coaching?
If you want to specialize and train in coaching, you may be interested in the Online Executive Coaching Certification Program organized by European Coaching School It is a 100% online training program lasting 194 hours, divided into two cycles and which includes live classes in a synchronous classroom, as well as theoretical-practical content, technical and academic support at all times, and whose completion will allow you obtain a coaching title from the International Coach Federation and an Executive Coach title from EEC.
For more information, you can contact the center or go to the European Coaching School website.
