COACHING OR SPIRITUAL DIRECTION? By Nancy R. Smith, © December, 2005

Have you wondered about the difference between coaching and spiritual direction?  I offer both and am often asked to explain them. Here are some basic similarities and differences:

How Coaching and Spiritual Direction Are Similar

1. Both coaching and spiritual direction involve the coach or director in listening, sharing, and asking questions to help you discover God’s will for you and to help you take the “next steps” in God’s plan.  
2. In both coaching and spiritual direction, you and your coach or director commit to a specific length of time. At the end of that time, you evaluate the relationship together. Either of you can choose to end it, modify it, or renew it for another specified length of time. This commitment/evaluation cycle may be in 3, 6, or 12-month segments.

Differences in Focus

1. The focus of coaching is on overcoming obstacles to some action or actions you feel you need to take. If you feel “stuck” in your work or in moving forward with personal goals, perhaps coaching would help. Homework in coaching is a matter of holding you accountable for some small action step that you yourself want to do and believe you can do before the next coaching session. It comes from within you, not from the coach.

2. The focus of spiritual direction is on recognizing and listening to God in your daily life -- in other words, on your personal relationship with God. If you have difficulty taking time and being quiet or finding God’s will for your life, perhaps spiritual direction would help. Homework in spiritual direction might be in the form of suggestions of specific Scripture passages to use, or a book to read, or suggestions for a different way of praying or a different way of listening to God.

Regardless of the focus, I find that your "inner core" is frequently the topic of the day.  You cannot ignore that core of your being in either moving from a "stuck" place or in deepening your spiritual life.

Differences in Format

1. Coaching usually takes place in 30-minute phone calls approximately every two weeks.

2. Spiritual direction usually takes place in 45- to 60-minute face-to-face sessions, perhaps every two weeks in the beginning, and then once a month. However, some spiritual directors have begun to offer this in other formats, such as by phone or email.

Either coaching or spiritual direction might be supplemented with email.