Brendon Towle Coaching

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Coaching is a helping profession, and there are lots of helping professions out there. As a coach, I am not a counselor, a therapist, a consultant, a mentor, or a teacher (although some of what I do may at times feel like any or all of those things). Some of the distinctions between what I offer in coaching and these similar professions include:

Coaching is a helping profession, and there are lots of helping professions out there. As a coach, I am not a counselor, a therapist, a consultant, a mentor, or a teacher (although some of what I do may at times feel like any or all of those things). Some of the distinctions between what I offer in coaching and these similar professions include:

Counseling:

  • Counseling often assumes that past dysfunction or trauma is the cause of current struggles and focuses on healing those, while my coaching focuses on the future and creating strategies for getting to a desired outcome. We may talk about the past to understand how it might be setting the context for where you are today, but my focus is on helping you get to where you want to go (and to help you figure out what that is).

  • Counselors are usually mandated reporters for things like child abuse and self-harm, while coaches are not. Note, however, that my client contract states that I will report these things if I become aware of them.

  • Some therapists are M.D.s, which allows them to prescribe medications, while most coaches (including myself) are not. If the situation warrants, I can provide you information on how to find a mental health professional in your area.

Counseling:

  • Counseling often assumes that past dysfunction or trauma is the cause of current struggles and focuses on healing those, while my coaching focuses on the future and creating strategies for getting to a desired outcome. We may talk about the past to understand how it might be setting the context for where you are today, but my focus is on helping you get to where you want to go (and to help you figure out what that is).

  • Counselors are usually mandated reporters for things like child abuse and self-harm, while coaches are not. Note, however, that my client contract states that I will report these things if I become aware of them.

  • Some therapists are M.D.s, which allows them to prescribe medications, while most coaches (including myself) are not. If the situation warrants, I can provide you information on how to find a mental health professional in your area.

Consulting:

  • Consultants usually are hired to create a plan for achieving the outcome, while my coaching assumes that you can devise your own plans (potentially within frameworks that I can provide to help you think through things and discover who you want to be).

Consulting

  • Consultants usually are hired to create a plan for achieving the outcome, while my coaching assumes that you can devise your own plans (potentially within frameworks that I can provide to help you think through things and discover who you want to be).

Mentoring:

  • Mentors are usually chosen for their extensive experience and knowledge within a particular subject area, while my coaching expertise is in the process of self-discovery and personal growth. I may or may not have any experience at all in the particular subject area in which you want to grow, but I have lots of experience in how personal growth works in a variety of areas.
  • Mentors are usually prescriptive, in that they will tell their client specific actions to take to achieve a particular outcome (and sometimes even tell the client what outcome it is that they should want). My coaching is not prescriptive. It’s not my job to figure out what outcome you want, or how to get there. Instead, I guide you through the process of discovering and determining yourself what it is that you want, and how to achieve that outcome.

Mentoring:

  • Mentors are usually chosen for their extensive experience and knowledge within a particular subject area, while my coaching expertise is in the process of self-discovery and personal growth. I may or may not have any experience at all in the particular subject area in which you want to grow, but I have lots of experience in how personal growth works in a variety of areas.
  • Mentors are usually prescriptive, in that they will tell their client specific actions to take to achieve a particular outcome (and sometimes even tell the client what outcome it is that they should want). My coaching is not prescriptive. It’s not my job to figure out what outcome you want, or how to get there. Instead, I guide you through the process of discovering and determining yourself what it is that you want, and how to achieve that outcome.

Teaching:

  • Teaching usually assumes that the teacher has created a plan or a curriculum describing what needs to be learned (and when and how). I have a set of exercises that I use to help with developing confidence, but in my coaching, you set the objectives, and thus there can be no set plan or curriculum. If you want to change the objectives, that’s fine. If you want to have different objectives every session, that’s fine. I’ll adapt the plan to meet your needs.

Teaching:

  • Teaching usually assumes that the teacher has created a plan or a curriculum describing what needs to be learned (and when and how). I have a set of exercises that I use to help with developing confidence, but in my coaching, you set the objectives, and thus there can be no set plan or curriculum. If you want to change the objectives, that’s fine. If you want to have different objectives every session, that’s fine. I’ll adapt the plan to meet your needs.