COUNSELLING & COACHING WITH SHELLEY HART
Just...because.
counselling or coaching?
they can look similar. So how do you know which one you need?
If you're trying to decide between counselling and coaching, you've probably come across some fairly neat and tidy explanations.
Counselling looks at the past. Coaching looks at the future.
Counselling is about emotions. Coaching is about goals and action.
The reality is more nuanced.
Both can help you understand yourself, think differently and make meaningful change. The important question isn't simply whether something belongs in your past, present or future, but what you need from the work and where you're starting from.
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You know what you want to change. Let's focus on how you make it happen
Ready to move forward?
You don't need to have everything figured out to know you want something to change.
Perhaps you want more from your career, greater confidence in yourself, a better work-life balance or a clearer sense of where you're heading.
Maybe you're facing a decision or life transition. Or perhaps life is going well and you're ready for what's next — a new ambition, a different direction or simply the opportunity to get more from yourself and your life.
Life coaching gives you the space to step back, get clear about what you really want and take purposeful action towards it.
Because knowing you want something to change is one thing.
Working out how you're going to change it is where coaching begins.
what does research suggest?
The difference between counselling and coaching isn’t as clear-cut as we’re sometimes led to believe.
Here’s what the wider research suggests — and what a recent study found.
THERE’S MORE OVERLAP THAN YOU MIGHT THINK
Research over the past two decades has consistently questioned whether counselling and coaching can be separated by simple distinctions.
Coaching can involve emotions, patterns and past experiences, while counselling can be future-focused, practical and concerned with change.
Studies have found significant overlap in how the two work, while suggesting that what someone needs, their level of psychological functioning and the purpose of the work may be more useful distinctions.
WHAT RECENT RESEARCH FOUND
A 2026 study found that coaches tended to describe coaching as more future-focused, action-based and performance-orientated than therapy.
But when the researchers compared those perceptions with the wider literature, many of those neat distinctions became harder to sustain.
More meaningful differences included someone’s psychological wellbeing, resilience and readiness for coaching, the purpose of the work and, particularly in organisational coaching, the involvement of other stakeholders.
Rather than simply past versus future or feelings versus goals, what matters more is where you’re starting from, what you need from the work and the context in which it takes place.
RESEARCH & SOURCES
Mcormick, I. & Forsyth, S. (2026)
Coaching Versus Therapy: A Quantitative, Qualitative and Conceptual Analysis
Maxwell, A. (2009)
Found that coaching and counselling/therapy can be intertwined, making a clear separation between them difficult.
Price (2009)
Found significant overlap between coaching and therapy and questioned whether a clear theoretical boundary could be drawn.
Giraldez-Hayes (2021)
Challenged familiar distinctions such as therapy looking backwards and coaching looking forwards, describing a substantial “grey area” between the two.
These studies are among the research drawn on in McCormick & Forsyth's 2026 review of the similarities and differences between coaching and therapy.
so which might be right for you?
The research tells us there isn’t a simple dividing line. But there are differences that can give you a clearer idea of where to start.
The questions below aren’t rules — you may recognise yourself on both sides — but they can help you think about the kind of support you need right now.
counselling may be more helpful if...
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You’re struggling emotionally and it’s affecting your day-to-day life or relationships.
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You’re dealing with anxiety, low mood, grief, trauma or difficult experiences and want support with how you’re feeling.
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Something from your past continues to affect how you feel, relate to others or respond today.
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You keep finding yourself in painful or unhelpful patterns and want to understand where they come from.
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You’re looking for space to explore things over time, without a set number of sessions.
coaching may be more helpful if...
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You’re generally coping well, but there’s something specific you want to change, develop or achieve.
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You have a personal, career, business or leadership challenge you want to work through.
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You’re facing a decision, transition or opportunity and want greater clarity about what to do next.
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You know what you want but something — perhaps confidence, assumptions or an established pattern — keeps getting in the way.
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You want focused work over a shorter, defined number of sessions.
You might bring confidence, relationships, patterns, change or a difficult decision to either counselling or coaching.
What matters is what’s happening for you, what you want from the work and the kind of support you need.
TWO WAYS OF WORKING
The focus is always on you and what you need from the work.
working with me as your therapist
I work integratively and relationally, which means there isn’t one set way we have to work. The relationship between us is central to the work, and I’ll be alongside you in it rather than sitting back as a detached expert.
We can explore what’s happening now, earlier experiences, relationships, emotions and patterns — with curiosity about what might sit underneath and how it may be affecting you today. We work at your pace.
You don’t need to arrive knowing what needs to change. Through greater understanding and self-awareness, different ways of experiencing yourself, your relationships and your life can become possible.
working with me as yourcoach
I work holistically and systemically, recognising that you and your goal don’t exist in isolation. Your relationships, roles and wider systems can all influence what’s happening and what change is possible.
We can be curious about the past and the why — Why am I like this? What might be shaping this? — but we don’t stay there. I’ll bring us back to the how — What could I do differently? What happens next?
The work is collaborative. I won’t give you the answers, but I will question, challenge and help you turn insight and self-awareness into meaningful action.
time commitment
Counselling is often longer-term, giving you time and space to explore what’s happening at your own pace, without a set number of sessions.
Coaching is usually shorter and more focused, often working together for a defined number of sessions around a particular goal or change.
WHY ARE THERE DIFFERENT FEES?
Counselling and coaching are different professional services, and their fees reflect that.
Counselling often supports something you need help with, sometimes over a longer period. Accessibility to mental health support is ethically reflected in how the profession is typically priced.
Coaching is more often an investment in something you want to change, develop or achieve, and operates within a different professional and commercial context.
Neither is more valuable than the other — they simply have different purposes and pricing structures.