Not Sure if You Need Coaching or Counseling?

Here’s a Clear, Faith-Based and Mental Health-Informed Guide

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What You’re Working On:

• Coaching is ideal when you're seeking growth, direction, guidance, or clarity—whether in your personal life, career, relationships, or spiritual walk. You might be (but not limited to):

• • Feeling stuck, mentally scattered, or spiritually dry

  • Seeking clarity about your calling, purpose, or goals

  • Struggling with motivation, confidence, or discipline

  • Struggling with stress or stressors  

  • Looking to strengthen boundaries, communication, or leadership

  • Wrestling with life transitions or decision-making

  • trauma-informed care that does not meet criteria for PTSD according to the DSM-5, but aids with coping and building resilience in life, and navigate present challenges and work towards future goals.

  • etc...

• Coaching is best suited for individuals who are functioning well but want support to move forward with intention, movement, and/or rooted in biblical values and personal development.

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• Counseling is appropriate when you're dealing with deeper emotional distress or psychological challenges that are affecting your ability to function in daily life.

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• Counseling often involves addressing clinically significant symptoms that meet criteria for mental health diagnoses, as outlined in the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders).

• • Major Depressive, generalized or social anxiety, or PTSD (as it meets criteria in the DSM-5).

  • Bipolar disorder or panic disorder

  • Difficulty managing work, relationships, or basic responsibilities due to mental distress

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How You’re Feeling:

• Coaching: You feel emotionally stable and ready to grow, but may feel stuck, disconnected, pulled in many directions, emotionally stretched thin, resistant, uncertain, holding yourself back, hesitant, unmotivated, or unclear. You want direction, encouragement, and structure to move forward in alignment with your faith and values.

• Counseling: You’re struggling to cope emotionally, and the intensity is high. You may feel overwhelmed, persistently sad, or highly anxious.

• These symptoms may be interfering with your ability to function at work, at home, or in your relationships.

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The Kind of Support You’re Seeking:

• Coaching provides, but is not limited to:

• • Goal-setting, accountability, and mindset shifts

  • Biblically-rooted encouragement and personal development (if desired)

  • Clarity in life direction, purpose, or spiritual disciplines

  • Support for navigating decisions, complacency, or transitions, etc...

• Counseling offers:

• • Evidence-based interventions for mental health diagnosis

  • A therapeutic space for emotional processing and healing through mental health diagnosis and often focus on the past more often than not.

  • Restoration of mental and emotional functioning, and bringing someone from instability to stability (not from non-functioning to functioning).

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Who You’ll Work With:

• Coaches are trained in personal and spiritual development, personal and spiritual goal achievement, and mental and spiritual growth, and even though I hold a license for professional counseling, I do not diagnose or treat mental health diagnoses according to the DSM-5.

• Licensed Counselors/Therapists are mental health professionals who integrate clinical methods. They are trained to diagnose and treat mental health disorders based on the DSM-5 and can help clients navigate symptoms a person is struggling with that inhibit functioning.

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Still Unsure?

You’re not alone—and asking this question shows courage and wisdom.

If you’re uncertain whether coaching or counseling is the right fit, I’m here to help you discern the next step. With experience in both clinical counseling and Christian coaching, I can guide you toward the support that best meets your needs.​