Elizabeth Ahmann ✉ (Maryland University of Integrative Health, USA and Springer Institute) Micah Saviet (Springer Institute) Marybeth Missenda (Maryland University of Integrative Health, USA)
Poetry can tap into feelings, stimulate creativity, and prompt inspiration and insight. Some coaches have reported these benefits when sharing poetry with clients, but little research has explored the use of poetry in the coaching engagement. This retrospective phenomenological study explored perceptions of poetry as a tool for health and wellness coaching among 40 coaches enrolled in an online advanced coaching skills class. Six overarching themes–discernment, logistics, impact on coaching, effect on the client, mechanisms, and the coach’s personal experience–are illustrated using verbatim quotations. This study may prompt coaches and researchers to explore novel approaches, including poetry, for broadening the toolboxes and eliciting enhanced client insight and awareness.
poetry, coaching, self-awareness, creativity, qualitative, phenomenology
Accepted for publication: 03 January 2025 Published online: 03 February 2025
© the Author(s) Published by Oxford Brookes University
The International Coaching Federation (ICF, 2023) defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximise their personal and professional potential” (para. 7). The National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching (NBHWC, 2017) defines Health and Wellness Coaching (HWC) as: “… partner[ing] with clients seeking self-directed, lasting changes, aligned with their values, which promote health and wellness and, thereby, enhance well-being” (para 1). Coaching has also been described as having a conversation with “purpose” (Anderson, 2023). In fact, the ICF competencies for working with clients include establishing agreements, listening actively, and evoking client awareness through conversational approaches such as “powerful questioning, silence, metaphor or analogy” (ICF, 2019, p. 5). NBHWC (2023) identifies similar competencies.
Coaches also use a variety of tools and approaches, some drawn from other fields, to enrich their work with clients. Examples include the use of a wellness wheel, and incorporation of somatic approaches, narrative frameworks, mindfulness, Appreciative Inquiry, and/or Non-Violent (Compassionate) Communication (Cox, Bachkirova and Clutterbuck, 2018; Moore, Jackson and Tschannen-Moran, 2016; Wildflower & Brennan, 2011). More recently, arts-based modalities are receiving increased attention (e.g., ICF Oregon, 2024; Ramos-Volz, 2018). One of these is poetry.
A number of coaches have written about their use of poetry in coaching, primarily in blog posts, identifying varied ways poetry can be a useful coaching tool. For example, Fisk (2024) describes poetry as a tool for “examining a life” (para 2). Nichols (2020) describes poetry as a source of “insight and power” (para 2). Wahl (2023) suggests that poetry is a tool for deeper listening that:
In a similar vein, Noakes (2023) describes using poetry to “inform and shape [her] coaching and to ignite the imagination” (para 4): “It can often take just one line of poetry to open up a coaching conversation and take it in a different direction” (para. 2).
While coaching is, in large part, a client-centered modality, coaches are encouraged to use their “intuition to benefit clients” as part of the coaching conversation (ICF, 2019, p. 3) or to incorporate “the coach’s intuition” as part of “expanding the conversation” (NBHWC, 2023, p. 41). In a workshop for the Association of Coach Training Organizations, ICF Master Certified Coach Christine Wahl (2023) offered the suggestion that an expansion of the use of a coach’s intuition could be selecting and offering a poem for a client’s consideration. She described sharing poetry as a way to encourage a client to see something new, to deepen their awareness, and/or to be a catalyst for change.
Elsey (2021) shares the following perspective:
Poetry has a way of speaking to us, of connecting to something deeper inside us - closer to the heart or soul. Poetry can set us thinking, sometimes long after we have read something. It can be soothing too - and - can also be a coaching tool! (para. 1)
Clearly, coaches who use poetry as a coaching tool find it to be beneficial in many ways, including to invite a depth of awareness into the exploration and conversation.
Poetry is used in many fields for inspiration. In the introduction to a 2003 text exploring poetry and psychoanalysis, Canham and Satyamurti, draw links between these two disciplines, noting that poetry, in few words, can conjure a depth of experience, symbolic associations, and imaginative possibilities. These opportunities are available any time poetry is experienced.
While several coaches, cited above, describe varied benefits of using poetry as a coaching tool, little research has directly explored poetry and coaching. A 2023 search of PubMed and Google Scholar uncovered only two academic papers related to the use of poetry in coaching. One of these studies described a Heuristic Inquiry including the exploration of writing poetry as part of the reflective practices of seven coaches (McCartney, 2018). In reporting on the study, McCartney emphasises the support writing poetry can provide for self-expression and the exploration of varied perspectives. The creative process is described as building connections between reflection and engagement that promote learning, choice, and growth, facilitating “sense-making” among coaches engaging in this reflective practice (p. 151). Although not utilising research, Bisson (2017) has also described the use of poetry as a tool for coaches’ own self-reflection. His own writing of poetry after coaching sessions encouraged his connection with his “unconscious mind in a flowing, gentle way” (p. 84). Additionally, he explored poetry in relation to topics of interest in his own coaching supervision and encourages approaching poetry from an internal “reflective space” (p. 95).
The second research study we uncovered focused on coaches inviting clients to write responses to poetry (Humphrey & Tomlinson, 2020). In three case examples, each using a different poem based on the client’s own situation, the researchers invited individual clients to reflect on and then respond to a poem in writing, suggesting that writing bypasses the inner censor, allowing subconscious thoughts to flow freely without judgment. In describing the use of poetry as a writing prompt in coaching, Humphrey and Tomlinson (2020) suggest that, in general, coaching clients are looking for new perspectives, and poetry provides a type of exploration that may be particularly suited to enabling “creativity, awareness, emotions and empathy …. allow[ing] the client to search for meaning outside the transactional dialogic approach” (p. 5) and can both prompt metacognition and “generate new perspectives” (p. 8).
This retrospective, qualitative, phenomenological study reviews masters’ level HWC student online discussion posts related to their experiences using poetry with clients as part of a course assignment. The study question is: What are masters level coaching students' perceptions of using poetry as a tool for health and wellness coaching?
Poetry is introduced as a coaching tool in a required online class titled “Advanced Coaching Skills for Health and Wellness” that is part of the M.A. degree in the Health and Wellness Coaching Department at Maryland University of Integrative Health. Students who take this course have already completed the practical skills assessment for ICF and/or NBHWC, in most cases, both. Hereinafter we will refer to them simply as coaches. The course has been offered twice a year since the Spring 2021 trimester and includes a one-week lesson titled “Poetry in Coaching.” The course also includes a 2-week module titled “Visual Arts in Coaching” which introduces intuitive collage and meditative coloring as coaching modalities; perspectives on art making as a coaching modality are explored in a separate manuscript.
In the class, HWCs learn about sharing poetry as a tool in coaching, are introduced to sources of poetry they might draw from and are asked to share a poem with a volunteer client in an actual coaching session. Using a constructivist approach to learning, the course includes an initial and response post to an online discussion board titled “Using Poetry in Coaching Practice” (see Box 1).
Using Poetry in Coaching Practice: Online Discussion Board Prompts
Please share your thoughts about use of poetry in coaching by answering each of the following questions:
Respond to your classmate's thoughts about using intuitive collage as a coaching tool using a reflection and powerful question, with the purpose of fostering further awareness related to the topic, perhaps helping them explore their own thoughts more deeply.
*ICF = International Coaching Federation; NBHWC = National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching
Source: Ahmann, E. (2021, January 3). DISCUSS: Using Poetry in Coaching Practice. In Module 5A of COA670: Advanced Coaching Skills for Health and Wellness. Maryland University of Integrative Health. Canvas Classroom. https://learn.muih.edu/
Note: The same prompts were used in all trimesters included in the study.
This study was both approved by the University’s Institutional Review Board (05.AHM.IS17.07.23.03) and used FERPA protections reviewed and approved by the University’s administration. One of the researchers (EA) was the instructor for the class during all but one trimester from which the data was extracted. To reduce bias, a separate researcher (MM) reached out via email to relevant students/alumni, from five trimesters–Spring 2021, Summer 2021, Spring 2022, Summer 2022, and Spring 2023–inviting permission to use their work and obtaining informed consent. MM also extracted de-identified data from the Instructure CanvasTM learning management system for those who provided informed consent. Randomly generated participant numbers were assigned. Extracted data comprised the complete text of each discussion post as well as poetry from websites, if included by the student in their discussion.
Fifty-five HWCs completed the course in the identified trimesters. However, the number of potential study participants was reduced to fifty-four because one student’s poetry discussion content was purposely not used in the study. This choice was made because this coach’s prior experience using poetry as a coach was reflected in her discussion post and, consequently, their identity would have been recognisable (to EA) in the data analysis process. No additional inclusion/exclusion criteria were applied. Because of the small sample size, and the primary researcher's (EA) prior experience as instructor to most of the potential participants, a decision was made not to collect demographic data which might de-identify the participants.
To explore masters’ level HWC student perceptions of using poetry as a tool for health and wellness coaching, the study employed a retrospective, phenomenological, qualitative review of the content of the student discussion on poetry. Descriptive phenomenology attempts to understand the essence of the lived experience of a phenomenon (e.g., the use of poetry as a coaching tool) from the perspective of those who experience it (Eddles-Hirsch, 2015).
The two researchers doing the coding (EA, MS) first collated the coaches’ selected poems (provided in response to discussion prompt #1, in above Box 1) into a list (see Table 1 in Findings). Then they separated the coaching competency prompt (#6 in Box 1 above) from the remainder of the prompts, making frequency tables of identified competencies (see Tables 2 and 3 in Findings).
To prepare the remaining data for analysis, in the few instances that a coach did not include the prompts in their response, the researchers jointly determined which sentences in a response related to each of the five remaining prompts. Response posts were not included in the analysis.
The data from the five remaining prompts (numbers 2, 3, 4, 5 & 7, in Box 1 above) were analysed using thematic content analysis, an iterative and inductive process of identification and reporting on themes in a source(s) of data. It is an approach especially useful for under-researched areas (Braun & Clarke, 2006). The analysis process followed recommended guidelines (Braun & Clarke, 2006; Nowell, Norris, White and Moules, 2017; Tong, Sainsbury and Craig, 2007):
“Taguette” (version: 1.4.1-40-gfea8597) was used to help manage the qualitative data during analysis (Rampin & Rampin, 2021). Measures taken to increase reliability and validity included: audit trails, data triangulation among two researchers/coders and the source material, and the researchers/coders challenging each other to think about underlying assumptions and biases (Nowell et al., 2017). Participant checking was not used in this study. Finally, the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) checklist (Tong et al., 2007) guided the report of this study.
Forty-two HWCs provided informed consent for the study. Of these, 40 had completed the discussion related to poetry (72.7% of the 55 students who completed the course in the identified trimesters).
Table 1 summarises data from discussion prompt #1–“Share your poem or a link to it.” This table reflects a wide variety of titles and authors coaches chose to draw from in sharing poetry with their clients. Tables 2 and 3 provide frequency counts of the ICF and/or NBHWC competencies participants thought were related to the use of poetry as a tool in coaching (from discussion prompt #7). These tables reflect the range of coaching competencies coaches felt were utilised in sharing poetry with clients. While evoking awareness and expanding perspectives and possibilities were most frequently referred to as relevant to sharing poetry, other competencies were also suggested, including use of metaphor, incorporating intuition, deeper exploration, and creating new learning.
Notes: Many students found the poems they used online. One student listed two poems, using one with each of two clients. 1Four students listed this poem 2Two students listed this poem
Notes: In several instances a student identified both an ICF and NBHWC competency(s). In several instances, a student identified more than one ICF competency; usually more than one part of Core Comp 7. 1International Coaching Federation (2019). ICF core competencies. https://coachingfederation.org/app/uploads/2021/03/ICF-Core-Competencies-updated.pdf 2One student identified ICF-PCC markers 7.2 and 7.3, most closely related to ICF Core Competency 7.4
Notes: In several instances a student identified both an ICF and NBHWC competency(s). In several instances, a student identified more than one NBHWC competency. 1National Board of Health and Wellness Coaching (NBHWC) (2022). NBHWC Content Outline. https://www.nbme.org/sites/default/files/2022-05/NBHWC_Content_Outline.pdf
From discussion prompts #2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 (see Box 1), six key themes were identified relating to the use of poetry as a tool with coaching clients. These themes included: discernment in selection of a poem to share; the logistics of incorporating poetry into coaching; the impact of using poetry on the coaching session or process; the effect of poetry on the client; potential mechanisms of action of poetry in coaching; and the coach’s personal experience with the use of poetry in coaching. For four of these themes, subthemes were also identified. Each theme/subtheme is illustrated, below, with participant (P#) quotations.
HWCs clearly articulated the importance of discernment in selecting a poem for a specific client, often relying on intuition and their knowledge of the client, and some suggesting that, in the future, they would consider particular situations in which poetry might seem most appropriate to share. Three sub-themes related to discernment were: individualised selection of a poem, relevant situations in which to share poetry, and cautions to consider. Table 1 demonstrates a range of poems that coaches chose to share with clients.
1.1: Individualised selection. Many of the coaches in the study described a process of discernment and use of intuition in selecting a poem for a particular client, based on the client’s personality, themes occurring in the coaching, or specific client challenges or goals.
1.2: Relevant situations. Coaches also highlighted discernment in their future plans related to use of poetry, suggesting situations in which poetry might be most applicable, or types of clients for whom its use might be most pertinent.;
1.3: Cautions. Some coaches suggested cautions to consider when selecting a poem.
While the data suggested that discernment was also used in relation to how or when poetry might be shared (e.g., whether emailed to a client in advance or read aloud in a session; or when during a coaching session poetry might best fit), this was coded separately, as part of the logistics of incorporating poetry into coaching.
HWCs mentioned a wide range of factors related to the process of incorporating poetry into coaching sessions, whether in a session they had already conducted with a client or regarding what they might do in the future. The following sub-themes were uncovered: preparation for using poetry (e.g., collecting a “bank” or poems, perhaps introduce the concept in the first session and contract about it); timing, or when to introduce poetry during the coaching session; how to share a poem (e.g., read it aloud, have client read it aloud, send it via email for client to read in advance); the context for sharing a poem (e.g., discuss the value of poetry in coaching first, follow with powerful questions or discussion); and the importance of a client-centered approach (e.g., asking permission).
2.1: Preparation. This aspect regarding the logistics of sharing poetry had to do with developing a bank of poetry from which poems could be selected for sharing; including a mention of the possible use of poetry in initial contracting with a client; allowing time for selection of a poem in advance of a session; and attending to the length of a poem chosen.
2.2: Timing. When to share poetry during the coaching session was a topic which coaches gave a great deal of thought to. Some coaches shared a poem at the beginning of a coaching session, in some cases as a mindful moment, while others offered it at the end of a session, and many planned to experiment over time with when to introduce a poem in the session.
One coach also commented on when during a coaching engagement to share poetry:
2.3: How to share. Coaches also gave a great deal of thought regarding the best ways to share a poem with clients. This included whether: to read the poem aloud to a client, to have the client read the poem aloud, to send the poem in an email before or after a coaching session, as well as whether to have the coach or client select a poem or even whether to invite a client to write a poem. Not everything coaches tried worked well, and many had ideas for what they would try in the future.
2.4: Context for sharing. Coaches discussed what might come before and after sharing a poem in a coaching session. For example, some coaches felt the need to explain the use of poetry to a client before sharing a poem, some discussed preceding the poem with meditative breathing to enhance receptivity, and some discussed the importance of following a poem with time for silence and/or powerful questions or discussion.
2.5: Client-centered approach. Being careful to keep an offering of poetry client-centered was a concern voiced by several coaches, and many noted the importance of asking the client’s permission to share a poem.
While fewer HWC comments fell into this theme, there were suggestions of a number of ways the use of poetry impacted a coaching session or the coaching process itself, as distinct from its effect on the client or the coach individually. For some, the use of poetry seemed to enliven or open up the coaching process, enhance the coach-client relationship, and/or contribute positively to promoting awareness or forward movement.
However, in some instances the use of poetry did not seem to enhance the coaching process.
The effect of poetry on the client showed up in relation to three key subthemes in this data from HWCs: client receptivity, including clients requesting a copy of the poem that was shared; opening up conversation around emotions; and enhanced client awareness.
4.1: Client receptivity. Many coaches used the words “receptive” and “resonated” in describing how poetry affected their clients, and some noted shifts in energy or demeanor. Many mentioned that their client asked for a copy of the poem they shared. However, a few felt that their clients were not receptive.
4.2: Opening up conversation about emotions. Several coaches noted that sharing poetry opened up client emotions and deepened emotional expression.
4.3: Enhanced client awareness. A number of coaches noted that sharing poetry served to remind clients of their deeper life values, vision, wisdom, meaning and/or purpose. For some, the poetry led to “ah-ha” moments in which broadened perspectives prompted re-commitments to themselves, or their goals, or catalysed forward movement.
As distinct from describing the actual effect of poetry on a client they had coached, HWCs shared many ideas of the mechanism by which poetry might be useful in coaching. These included: providing moments of mindfulness and grounding, engaging creativity and the right side of the brain, serving as a vehicle for enhanced exploration, diversifying communication and prompting deeper conversation, creating energy and new possibilities, and enhancing awareness and insight.
Three aspects of the HWCs’ experience of the use of poetry stood out in this data: initial discomfort or uncertainty when sharing poetry with a client; enjoyment; and broadened perspectives about the use of poetry as a tool in coaching.
6.1: Initial discomfort or uncertainty. Many coaches spoke of uncertainty when preparing to share poetry with a client, and some felt uncomfortable trying it.
6.2: Enjoyment. With a few exceptions, many of the coaches had a positive experience of sharing poetry with clients, saying things like “I enjoyed it” (e.g., P14, P17, P22, P29, P30, P31), or “I love it!” (e.g., P11, P26, P27).
6.3: Broadened perspectives. Despite initial hesitation, many coaches appreciated the opportunity to add poetry to their coaching toolbox, planned to use it again, and expressed curiosity about ways they might use it in the future.
Tables 2 and 3, linking the use of poetry to a range of coaching competencies,; also reflect coach perspectives on the relevance of poetry to the coaching process.;
This retrospective phenomenological qualitative study offers a unique contribution to the research in the field by exploring the process of sharing poems with clients as part of the health and wellness coaching conversation. An analysis of 40 masters-level student HWCs’ online discussion posts, following a module on the use of poetry in an online class on advanced coaching skills, revealed six main themes in relation to coaches’ perceptions of the use of poetry as a coaching tool in health and wellness coaching: discernment in selection of a poem to share; the logistics of incorporating poetry into coaching; the impact of using poetry on the coaching session or process; the effect of poetry on the client; potential mechanisms of action of poetry in coaching; and the coach’s personal experience with the use of poetry in coaching. For four of these themes, subthemes were also identified.
Most of the coaches had initial skepticism about the use of poetry as a coaching tool, feeling awkward or uncertain introducing it in the coaching session. Of interest in this regard, is that Richards (2007) suggests that a key aspect of acting creatively, or trying new things, may require being “brave”, an attitude shift toward openness that welcomes new experience, even as the consequences or outcomes may be unknown. In this instance, coaches “had” to try sharing poetry with a client because it was a class assignment, and they may not have considered doing so otherwise. At the same time, having tried it, many became convinced of its value and planned to use it with clients in the future.
Most coaches also selected a poem carefully, discerning what they thought might be a useful contribution to their particular client, based on their sense of the client’s personality or current situation. (The range of selected poems is reflected in Table 1 and suggests the degree of individualisation involved in poem selection.) Similarly, Wahl (2023) has posited that selection of a poem is one way of using the coach’s intuition to share with a client. While little empirical study has explored the use of intuition in coaching, it is widely supported by practitioner literature and is also an element of coaching competencies (ICF, 2019; NBHWC, 2022; Sheldon, 2018). Care in selecting a poem for a specific client is also in line with the importance some coaches in this study placed on a client-centered approach, and many placed on asking permission to share a poem, consistent with the general premise of coaching as a client-centered partnership, as distinct from an expert-driven model (e.g., NBHWC, 2023).
Wahl (2023) suggested several ways coaches might share a poem with a client: 1) read, discuss, and then re-read the poem together, noticing changes in reactions; and 2) after a session, offer a poem that the coach thinks intuitively might “fit” the client, and explore it during the next session. She also suggested several questions that might be used to explore a poem: “What speaks to you in this poem?”, “Do you mind saying what that means to you?”, “How might you embody that?” Coaches in this study, similarly, introduced poetry to their clients in varied ways: usually by asking permission, with or without a prefacing explanation; as a moment of mindfulness, or otherwise, at the beginning of the session; later in the session; or via email. Some preceded the poem with mindful breathing, and some followed the poem with powerful questions and/or discussion.
After sharing a poem, most of the participating HWCs were pleasantly surprised by the experience, finding that it contributed to the coach/client relationship, opened up more client emotions, and/or enhanced client awareness. Many also indicated that their clients enjoyed having a poem as part of the coaching session, some clients even asking for a copy of the poem. Humphrey and Tomlinson (2020) share: “We take the view that clients who enter a coaching relationship are looking for opportunities to explore different perspectives for their presenting issues. Poetry has the power to enable creativity, awareness, emotion and empathy” (p. 5). Poetry, as a sensory experience drawing on imagery, metaphor, rhythm and sometimes rhyme, is well-known to evoke emotions (Johnson-Laird & Oatley, 2022). In fact, Eva-Wood (2008) conducted a study among high school students finding that poetry enhanced metacognition about feelings. Additionally, much as the enhanced client awareness identified by coaches in this study, coaches, Elsey (2021), Fisk (2024), Nichols (2020), Noakes (2023), and Wahl (2023), also suggest that poetry, when used in coaching, can connect deeply with a client, invite inner awareness and examination, and spark insight, imagination and thought.
These findings are also consistent with the ICF and NBHWC coaching competencies that participating HWCs linked to the use of poetry as a tool in coaching (see Tables 2 and 3). Among the competencies, the most often cited were ICF’s (2019) Competency 7, “Evokes Awareness”, including 7.2, “Challenges the client as a way to evoke awareness and insight”; and NBHWC’s (2022) competency 2.6, “Expand the conversation”, in particular 2.6.6, “Explores broader perspectives and inspires interest in new possibilities''; as well as NBHWC’s 2.10, “Client awareness, perspective shifts and insights”. By enhancing awareness, coaches can facilitate clients in their journey toward greater well-being.
In a dissertation titled “Felt Thought: Neuroscience, Modernism and the Intelligence of Poetry”, Langione (2016) posits that “poetry reflects and enables a special kind of intelligence” (p. 1). Further, in a neuroscience-oriented study using a combination of psychophysiology, neuroimaging and behavioral observations, Wassiliwizky, Koelsch, Wagner, Jacobsen and Menninghaus (2017) document that “recited poetry can act as a powerful stimulus for eliciting peak emotional responses” (p. 1229). Exposure to poetry has also been shown to promote cognitive changes, such as enhanced tolerance of ambiguity, cognitive fluency and flexibility, and, in some instances, creativity (Hitsuwari & Nomura, 2022. Osowiecka & Kolańczyk, 2018). One study of college students found that participation in a poetry appreciation course lowered measures of mental health concerns and shaped aspects of personality (Zhang, 2022). Specific to coaching, Wahl (2023) has suggested that poetry can provide a route around intellectuality, invite deeper listening to one’s own internal conversation, and offer an invitation to move to another level with one’s client. Coaches in this study identified these and other mechanisms by which they thought poetry made an impact on their clients and/or the coaching process. Some of these mechanisms arose from direct observations of their clients, and others seemed more like hypotheses. This aspect of using poetry in coaching may deserve additional exploration.
In several instances, coaches reported that the use of poetry fell flat, and did not seem to enhance the coaching session or relationship or have a notable effect on the client, One shared that the client, for whom poetry “kind of flopped” said she was a “literal thinker” (P21). A few other coaches raised concerns or cautions about how their selection of a poem might impact a client. Factors that might be considered and explored in future use or study of poetry in coaching are aspects of client identity and context, including not only aspects of personality but also prior exposure to poetry, comfort with abstract language and imagery, consideration of the client’s primary language, as well as gender, age, ethnic or cultural background (e.g., Chang, 2008; Green, Ellis and Simecek, 2016; Hitsowari & Nomura, 2023). Further, as the response to poetry can be subjective, the potential for implicit bias in the coach’s selection of a poem to share cannot be overlooked. Overall, these considerations also speak to the importance of coaches who share poetry sharing “without attachment” as several students noted in identifying ICF core competency 7.11 as relevant (see Table 2).
The study data reflected HWCs’ views of the introduction of poetry as a tool in coaching as a dynamic process, one that pleasantly surprised many, and with which many planned to continue to engage over time, pondering varied ways they might do so. After a constructivist experiment in the use of poetry in coaching, this broadened perspective on the use of poetry among this study’s subjects is reminiscent of the “Poetic Principle” of Appreciative Inquiry: what is focused on grows (Cooperrider and Whitney, 2005). In fact, in many instances, coaches in this study shared “dreams” (part of the 5-D cycle of Appreciative Inquiry) or ideas of how they might use poetry in the future. This process also reflects a Growth Mindset (Dweck, 2006) among study coaches in which putting energy into learning about, and experimenting with, the use of poetry in coaching promoted their development as coaches and the broadening of what they could offer to their clients. In this regard, one coach identified ICF (2019) Core Competency 2.2 as pertinent to this experience: “Engages in ongoing learning and development as a coach” (P27).
Other than three case studies shared by Humphrey and Tomlinson (2020), this study is the first we are aware of to directly explore coach perceptions of sharing poetry with clients as a tool in coaching. Another strength lies in the differing backgrounds of the researchers completing the analysis: EA is a female Registered Nurse, Professor of Health and Wellness Coaching, and credentialed coach, with a doctorate in public health, in her 60s; and MS is a male Licensed Clinical Social Worker in clinical practice and credentialed coach in his 30s. MM, a female herbalist, pharmacist, and Assistant Professor as well as Program Director of Integrative Health Studies, in her 50s, also contributed perspectives to the discussion.
To limit bias, data was de-identified prior to analysis by a researcher (MM) not participating in the analysis. The data from one student with prior experience in the use of poetry in the coaching process was also removed from the sample to prevent identification by the researchers doing the analysis. However, complete anonymity was not attained because EA had been the instructor of the class for four of the five trimesters from which data was drawn, and a number of participants reached out to let her know they had completed in the informed consent.
Study participants were all masters level HWCs in one small integrative health university and many of the coaches in this study were fairly new to coaching. Coaches with different training, or more experience, might have different perspectives on the use of a tool such as poetry. It is the case, in any regard, that qualitative results can be hypothesis generating, but are not considered generalisable.
A further limitation is the fact that data on the impact of poetry was gathered from coaches, and not directly from clients. Future research might directly explore client perspectives on this coaching modality.
Grisoni and Page (2015) suggest that innovative arts-based approaches may be important in supporting a constructive “disruption” that can bring about new a way of seeing, and even knowing (Taylor & Ladkin, 2009), and, thus, can facilitate meaningful change. Joy Harjo (2019), Chancellor of the American Academy of Poets, has said: "Poetry is a tool for disruption and creation..." and "Without poetry we lose our way" (para. 7). Disruption, creation, finding the way: all of that is certainly relevant to the coaching journey for most clients! Yet, with the exception of Humphrey and Tomlinson (2020), reporting several case examples, this study is the first, to our knowledge, examining coaches’ experience of integrating the use of poetry as a tool into their coaching with clients.
In a variety of blog posts, introduced in this paper’s Introduction, several coaches described positive effects associated with the introduction of poetry as a tool in coaching. This study of 40 masters’ level coaching students’ perspectives on the use of poetry in coaching demonstrates the same, providing further insight into this creative approach, and extending our understanding of poetry as a coaching tool. The study findings may encourage other coaches to consider sharing poetry with clients to introduce new perspectives, open up emotions, and prompt deeper awareness. The data collected in this study also provides many logistical ideas for how coaches might introduce poetry, including a list of poems to consider, as well as what might be expected in the process of sharing a poem.
As this study focused on health and wellness coaches with one training approach, and with generally limited experience in the field, future research might explore the use of poetry as a tool among coaches with varied backgrounds as well as more extensive coaching experience. Studies using varied methodological approaches might shed further light on this topic and contribute to generalisability of findings. Exploration of client perspectives on the use of this modality, as well as coach and client factors–such as gender, age and cultural identity–that might impact its effectiveness, would also be valuable. Further exploration of the mechanisms by which poetry has an effect on clients might draw from disciplines beyond coaching to understand more about the “how” of this potentially impactful tool for coaches. Additionally, exploration of other arts-based modalities in coaching could expand evidence supporting the possibilities coaches have for engaging creatively with their clients.
Dr. Elizabeth Ahmann (ScD, RN, PCC, NBC-HWC) is a coach in private practice, Curriculum Manager and Professor of Health and Wellness Coaching at Maryland University of Integrative Health, and Director of Research at Springer Institute.
Mr. Micah Saviet (LCSW-C, NBC-HWC, CEAP, BCC) is a social worker in clinical practice, health and well-being coach, and Director of Springer Institute for research.
Ms. Marybeth Missenda (MS, RPh, CNS) is a registered pharmacist, herbalist, and Assistant Professor and Program Director of the Integrative Health Studies Department at the Maryland University of Integrative Health.