LIFE COACHING VERSUS TRADITIONAL COUNSELING

 

Penny and Gene have over 50 years of combined experience as interventionists and addiction counselors.  Informed by this wealth of experience, they have discovered that life coaching is a better method of solving problems and maximizing personal growth than traditional counseling.  While traditional counseling is certainly beneficial, life coaching offers distinct advantages that make more of a therapeutic impact for many.  The advantages include:  

A Collaborative & Empowering Partnership

Life coaching creates an equal partnership between client and coach, fostering empowerment. Rather than focusing on the treatment and diagnosis of mental health conditions, coaching works to unlock potential, enhance strengths, encourage self-sufficiency, and promote personal growth.  A diagnosis or label can become a barrier to self-growth. 

 

A Focus on the Future and Achieving your Goals

Traditional counseling, in many cases, spends too much time focusing on your past experiences. While valuable, this retrospective focus can contribute to stagnation and reinforcement of negative patterns.  Life coaching, by contrast, only utilizes a past focus to assist you with identifying behavioral patterns and life lessons that support forward momentum.  Life coaching avoids getting stuck in the question of "why?".  Instead, it focuses on the answer to “where do I go from here?”

 

In light of those advantages, Penny and Gene have shifted from traditional drug and alcohol counseling to that of whole life coaching, especially for individuals and families struggling with substance use problems.  Also, they provide life coaching regarding a variety of issues that are often linked to substance abuse and addiction, such as relationship/family conflict, anger management deficiencies, stress, and financial challenges.