An ADHD diagnosis can be disorientating, unsettling and validating. Females are less likely to be diagnosed in childhood and, despite being recommended as part of multi-modal treatment plans, there is little research into coaching for women with adult ADHD diagnoses. This study employed a qualitative interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach, and utilised a heuristic framework for data analysis. Participants found coaching beneficial in identity reconstruction post-diagnosis, particularly through psychoeducation, executive function training, and exploring the impact of undiagnosed ADHD on self-esteem. This research sheds light on women's experiences with later-life ADHD diagnosis and coaching, contributing to an understanding of the process.
Reputable evidence-based academic sources provide limited information on the term Semiotic Coaching. To establish and enhance this term, this longitudinal, constructionist qualitative study designed a twenty-month, three-phase semiotic coaching development study (2022-2024) to train three female coaches in Roles/Attitudes (Fontanille, 2003 [2006]) as transitory identities. The study aims to explore the experiences of the coaches regarding Roles/Attitudes trajectory through Semiotic Coaching, and its impact on both their personal and professional lives. The study adopts Braun & Clarke’s (2006) inductive reflexive thematic analysis using semi-structured one-to-one interviews. Results indicate significant empowerment and self-transformation under four main themes: competence/being, performance/doing, self-transformation/becoming, and self-realization.
Comfort (2023) identified the potential benefits of youth mentoring experienced by young people, using a qualitative methodology. This paper outlines the programme, mentor and mentee practices that were identified during the research. Following these practices will offer young people emotional support as well as new and potentially transformational opportunities. The practices will help develop the assets, or protective characteristics, innate in young people. They will help mentees activate their assets to access support and resources from the networks around them, allowing young people to gain the most from being mentored.
The impetus behind the research was the recent industrial action by teachers, in both the United Kingdom (UK) and New Zealand (NZ), who were seeking better working conditions and an increase in pay, throwing teaching into the spotlight once again. The high attrition rates within the profession are well documented. We are in a time of crisis in education and the support offered to teachers has never been more crucial. UNESCO (2020). My teaching career spans 24 years, and the way in which teachers are supported to ride the waves of change and challenge has remained the same as when I attended teacher training college. The first two years of a newly qualified teacher journey in the UK and New Zealand are usually filled with mentor support, collegiality and governing body accountability followed by a void that can easily be filled with self-doubt, long hours, stress and pressure. I hope to offer a central location for some of the most influential research on coaching in education. I aspire to offer a springboard…
Communication and coaching are intertwined disciplines. However, their intersection still needs to be researched due to its relevance to theory and practice. Moreover, the rise of ICT has impacted coaching, from contracting to delivery. This qualitative study investigates the elements of interpersonal communication in online and offline life coaching, its advantages and disadvantages, demographic communication practices, and technology-led changes in coaching. The study uses an interpretative philosophy in a constructivist framework to answer these questions. The study presents preliminary results of a larger population of life coaches and aims to contribute to understanding the nuanced role of communication in coaching.
This exploratory feasibility study examined a wellbeing coaching programme developed from the theory of socio-cognitive mindfulness (Langer, 1989). Six participants were recruited to attend the six-week programme and to complete surveys measuring mindfulness and wellbeing at baseline, post-intervention and follow-up. High attendance and completion rates suggest that the study and intervention procedures were feasible, with a preliminary assessment of outcomes indicating that the intervention may be effective in some cases for improving mindfulness and wellbeing. Participant responses infer that the coaching programme was acceptable and well-received but with suggestions for improvement which can inform intervention refinement and potential coach training.
Humans are facing a global mental health crisis. The need to navigate the unseen yet influential forces of our thoughts and emotions has never been greater. This study employs Q-methodology to explore and reveal our subjective inner landscape. Through rigorous systematic collection and condensing of a range of diverse views and opinions on the thoughts and emotions associated with the goal pursuit journey, a set of 40 Clarity Cards were generated. Via participant sorting and factor analysis, four distinct patterns of thoughts and emotions were revealed, and the Clarity Compass framework developed. Findings highlight the normalcy of self-doubt, overwhelm, anxiety and stress in goal pursuit, and the need to navigate these necessary ‘negatives’ to create springboard states. The Clarity Compass and Clarity Cards are offered as a tool to guide this inner world exploration.
This research adds to the literature on how coaches navigate the boundaries between therapy and coaching. It gathers the first-person perspectives of coaches who are also trained in Transactional Analysis (TA), following a constructivist grounded theory (CGT) methodology. Findings highlight the responsibility of the coach to identify the boundaries; contracting and re-contracting to maintain psychological safety and maintaining a high degree of self-awareness to walk the line between work appropriate for coaching and therapy. Among the implications for coaching practice are considerations about the use of language and terminology and managing the power dynamic of the coaching dyad.
Utilising constructivist grounded theory (CGT), this research explored how coaches engage with leader emotions in the context of organisational relationships. Four levels of emotional engagement emerged: emotionally engaged, emotionally curious, emotionally misaligned, and emotionally avoidant. Creating the conditions, emotional contracting and engaging with the leader emotional ecosystem was fundamental to emotional engagement. Emotional misalignment disengaged leaders from the coaching relationship. This article highlights why this research matters. Importantly, the findings are synthesised into a new theoretical emotional engagement framework, The ACE Model, which explores and explains findings relating to attunement, adaptation, creating conditions, engagement and evaluation. The ACE Model supports a practical application of the research findings for coach education and development.