The key difference between counselling and coaching is the use of positive psychology, at least in the mainstream perceptions of those two services. At Voxel Hub, we fully integrate it into our work across all services. However, traditionally, it is usually encountered in coaching work.
Positive psychology offers a strengths-based, evidence-driven approach to coaching, enabling clients to move beyond obstacles and toward flourishing. Here are the key principles of positive psychology that can be effectively applied in coaching:
1. Strengths-Based Approach
- Focus on identifying and leveraging clients’ unique strengths and talents, rather than just fixing weaknesses or solving problems.
- Tools like the free VIA Character Strengths assessment help clients recognise and use their core strengths in daily life and goal pursuit.
2. Cultivating Positive Emotions
- Encourage practices that boost positive emotions, such as gratitude, hope, and optimism, which broaden perspective and fuel resilience.
- Techniques include gratitude journaling, savouring positive moments, and reframing challenges in a constructive light.
3. Goal Setting and Achievement
- Guide clients to set meaningful, intrinsically motivated goals aligned with their values and vision for the future.
- Emphasise progress and accomplishment, celebrating small wins to build momentum.
4. Building Resilience and Optimism
- Help clients develop resilience by fostering a growth mindset and teaching them effective strategies to recover from setbacks.
- Optimism is fostered through solution-focused questioning and highlighting past successes.
5. Positive Relationships
- Encourage clients to build and maintain supportive, authentic relationships, recognising the role of social connection in well-being and growth.
6. Meaning and Purpose
- Support clients in exploring and clarifying what gives their life meaning, helping them align actions with core values for deeper fulfilment.
7. Solution-Focused and Future-Oriented
- Use solution-focused techniques, helping clients envision their desired future and identify the resources they already possess to get there.
- Shift conversations from problem analysis to exploring exceptions and possibilities.
8. Evidence-Based Practices
- Apply interventions and exercises grounded in research, such as gratitude practices, strengths spotting, and resilience training, to ensure effectiveness and sustainable change.
Integrating those practices can support clients in utilising positive psychology for their own wellbeing.