In the context of SUD practice, which statement best distinguishes coaching from counseling?

• A. Counseling focuses on coping and support; coaching emphasizes diagnosis.
• B. Coaching focuses on behavior change and coping; counseling is often goal-oriented and skill-building.
• C. Counseling is only about pharmacotherapy; coaching is only about sports coaching.
• D. They are the same.

Answer: (C)

In SUD practice, the difference lies in focus and approach. Coaching centers on concrete behavior change, coping with everyday challenges, and accountability—setting actionable goals, creating steps to reach them, and tracking progress. Counseling, on the other hand, leans into a therapeutic process that helps clients understand underlying factors, builds skills over time, and often works toward longer-term goals and relapse-prevention strategies. So the statement that best captures the distinction is that coaching emphasizes behavior change and coping, while counseling is often goal-oriented and skill-building. The other choices mix up roles (diagnosis isn’t a coaching aim), overstate pharmacotherapy, or claim they’re the same, which doesn’t reflect how coaching and counseling function in practice.