Counselling, Psychotherapy, Coaching: What's the Difference?

“Some beginnings feel less like starting over and more like coming home to yourself.”

The eagle-eyed among you may have noticed a small change on my website recently: what was once Whitewood Counselling is now Whitewood Psychotherapy, and I now describe myself as a psychotherapist rather than a counsellor.

In truth, very little has changed about the way I work. The shift in language is really about finding words that better describe what I’ve been offering for a long time — a space for deeper exploration and lasting healing. My work still includes elements of counselling, of course — gentle listening, support through difficulty, making sense of the present — but it also goes beyond that, into the terrain where our early experiences, relationships, and inner worlds shape the way we live and love today.

I’ve always believed in the healing power of therapy: that real change happens not just when we learn to cope better, but when something within us begins to transform.

A broken leg metaphor

One of my favourite ways to describe the difference between counselling, psychotherapy, and coaching is through the image of a broken leg.

Counselling is like putting on a plaster or a supportive brace. It protects what hurts, eases the pain, and helps you move forward safely. It offers empathy, containment, and clarity — support for when life feels too heavy, uncertain, or painful to carry alone.

Psychotherapy, on the other hand, is like surgery. It goes deeper, tending to what lies beneath the surface — the tendons, muscles, nerves, and the alignment of bones. Sometimes, as in surgery, something may need to be broken again in order to heal properly. In therapy, that might mean revisiting past wounds or early experiences so that they can be re-integrated and healed. The goal isn’t just to manage the pain but to restore strength, movement, and wholeness.

And coaching? That’s what happens once the leg has healed. Coaching is like training for a marathon: strengthening the muscles, expanding your potential, and helping you thrive. It’s about growth, purpose, and direction — building on the healing that’s already taken place.

How my work has evolved

When I first began seeing clients, I worked largely as a counsellor — helping people through griefs, transitions, and crises; offering a safe space to speak and be heard.

From the start, I understood that our present struggles are rarely isolated — they’re entwined with our histories and with the ways we’ve learned to relate, protect, and make sense of ourselves. What has changed over the years is not my understanding, but the depth and confidence with which I can accompany people into those places.

With experience, I’ve become increasingly able to hold the complexity of that deeper work — to stay present to the tender, hidden layers where pain took root and where healing needs to happen. That’s what psychotherapy makes possible: transformation that lasts because it reaches beneath coping and insight into the realm of relational repair and inner integration.

That doesn’t mean every client needs intensive psychotherapy; sometimes what’s needed is simply a safe, attuned presence — a space of listening, reflection, and containment where emotions can begin to settle and make sense. At other times, we find ourselves drawn into the deeper work of healing and re-alignment. Often, both are part of the same journey.

Where coaching fits in

In the past year, my practice has also begun to include a coaching dimension — particularly for those who have done significant inner work and are now ready to grow, create, or lead with greater clarity and purpose. Coaching focuses on what comes next — integrating insight into action, helping you live more intentionally and freely.

Alongside my psychotherapy work, I’m also an EMCC-accredited Therapeutic Coach, currently working towards Senior Practitioner level. This aspect of my practice is still taking shape — a natural extension of my therapeutic work, where depth meets direction and healing evolves into growth. (Watch this space...!)

Just as the same person might need a surgeon at one point and a trainer at another, our needs can change over time and different seasons may call for different kinds of work. Sometimes that means continuing in therapy; at other times, it may involve a new focus or a separate coaching process, always with clear contracting to support that transition.

Why the words matter

Sometimes we minimise our pain, thinking “I just need a bit of counselling,” when what we’re actually longing for is deeper healing — the kind that touches our stories, not just our symptoms.

Other times, we may imagine that therapy must always be heavy or painful, when in fact it can also be enlivening, creative, and deeply empowering.

Words like counselling, psychotherapy, and coaching are simply ways of describing different depths and focuses of the same commitment: to help people live more freely, more fully, and more in touch with themselves.

In the end

Whatever name we give it, the work is about human connection — being met, understood, and supported as you find your own way towards healing and growth.

And sometimes, as with any broken bone, healing takes time. But once it’s done — once the structure is strong and steady — you may just discover you’re ready to run.