People often ask me whether they need counselling or coaching. It’s a good question — and the honest answer is that it depends on which way you’re facing.
Counselling tends to look inward and back
Counselling is about understanding and healing. It’s the right place to go when something is weighing on you — anxiety, low mood, a loss, a difficult relationship, or a past that keeps making itself felt in the present. We slow down, make sense of it together, and give it the space it needs. The focus is on understanding yourself and feeling more at peace.
Coaching tends to look forward
Coaching is about clarity, direction and action. It’s the right place to go when you’re basically okay but stuck — facing a career change, wanting more confidence, or trying to work out what you actually want and how to get there. The focus is on where you’re going and the steps to move.
The truth: it’s not always either/or
Real life doesn’t split neatly into “heal the past” and “build the future.” Often the thing holding you back from a big step is something older and deeper that’s worth understanding first. Because I’m trained in both counselling and coaching, we don’t have to pick a lane on day one. We can start wherever you are and let the work shape itself — a little understanding here, a little forward momentum there.
Still not sure?
That’s completely normal, and you don’t need to have it figured out before you get in touch. The free 20-minute call exists for exactly this — we’ll talk it through and work out together what would help most.