If you have ever sat with a participant’s plan and wondered whether they need a Psychosocial Recovery Coach, a Support Coordinator, or both, you are not alone. The two roles overlap in useful ways and separate in important ones, and getting the fit right can change how a plan actually lands in someone’s life.
Here is how we describe the difference at Mindful Hearts Recovery Coaching.
Support Coordination is about the plan
A Support Coordinator helps a participant understand and use their NDIS plan. That usually looks like:
- Explaining budgets and what each category can fund
- Building the participant’s service team
- Setting up service agreements and bookings
- Linking with mainstream and community supports
- Preparing for plan reviews
The focus is practical and structural. It answers the question: how do we turn this plan into working supports?
Recovery Coaching is about the person’s recovery
A Psychosocial Recovery Coach walks alongside a participant living with a psychosocial disability. The work is relational and skills-based. It usually looks like:
- Building a recovery-oriented relationship over time
- Coaching around daily routine, motivation, wellbeing and self-management
- Working with the person’s mental health, treating team and natural supports
- Recognising early signs of change and responding early
- Helping the person build capacity to lead their own plan over time
The focus is the person. It answers the question: how does this person want their life to look, and what capacity do they need to build to get there?
They work well together
For many participants, both roles are needed. The coordinator holds the structure. The coach holds the recovery work. When they are aligned, the participant experiences a joined-up team rather than a stack of separate services.
When recovery coaching is the right referral
Consider a recovery coach when a participant:
- Has a psychosocial disability recorded in their plan
- Would benefit from a consistent, longer relationship
- Is working on wellbeing, routine, connection or capacity
- Needs someone to walk alongside them through change, not just organise supports around them
How to refer to MHRC
We accept referrals through our online form. We review goals, funding, location, capacity and service fit before confirming next steps, so participants only get a yes when we can genuinely support them well.