What is life skills counselling?

Life Skills Counselling involves the application of counselling theory and practical skills to assist clients with problem management, personal development, decision-making, and the identification of opportunities for positive change.

Practical counselling knowledge and skills are acquired through a structured professional curriculum comprising both academic and experiential components. This training enables practitioners to develop and demonstrate a broad range of foundational counselling theories, techniques, and interpersonal skills.

Graduates are trained to provide basic counselling support, preliminary assessment, and appropriate referral in areas that may include Basic Counselling, Counselling Psychology, Modern Applied Psychology, Addictions Counselling, Sexual Abuse and Trauma Counselling, Family and Couples Counselling, Youth Counselling, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Mental Health, and Employment and Career Counselling.

In addition, practitioners acquire essential case-management skills, including conducting client intake interviews, maintaining confidential case files, preparing session notes, identifying client concerns, and determining when referral to another qualified professional or specialist may be appropriate.

An important component of the training is supervised clinical practice. Clinic weeks provide opportunities for trainees to practise counselling skills under supervision, examine case studies, conduct relevant research, review professional reference materials, and reflect on their counselling practice.

As part of the practical training requirements, trainees are also required to complete a minimum of 30 hours of client counselling. During these sessions, they apply relevant theoretical knowledge and practical counselling and coaching skills to real client situations, including problem management, goal setting, personal development, and opportunity development.

Overall, the training is designed to provide practitioners with a sound foundation in helping skills, ethical client interaction, assessment, documentation, referral, and supervised counselling practice.

What is Coaching?

“A coach is someone trained and devoted to guiding others into increased competence, commitment, and confidence.”
— Frederic Hudson, Handbook of Coaching

“In contrast to the emphasis on imparting information through tutoring and instruction, coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximize his or her own performance.”
— Adapted from Sir John Whitmore, Coaching for Performance

Therefore, coaching is primarily focused on the individual or group being coached. It seeks to stimulate people to develop their own understanding, exercise their judgment, make informed decisions, and take meaningful action.

Unlike some helping professions, coaching does not involve making a diagnosis or giving prescriptive advice. A coach does not necessarily need to be an expert in the specific areas that concern the person being coached. Instead, the coach brings skills in listening, understanding, asking thoughtful questions, summarizing, and facilitating reflection.

The coach's role is to guide as non-directively as possible, creating a supportive environment in which individuals can explore their own situations, gain clarity, reach their own conclusions about what they want to do, and take responsibility for putting those decisions into action.

As Gary R. Collins explains in Christian Coaching, effective coaching is ultimately about helping people discover their own potential, make their own decisions, and move toward purposeful action.