Gallery Presentation International Positive Psychology Association 7th IPPA World Congress 2021

A dynamic anatomy of professional coaches' interventions over time (#191)

James Gavin 1 , Elizabeth Thomas 1 , Julie Chacra St. Pierre 1
  1. Concordia University, Montreal, QUEBEC, Canada

What is the pattern of coaching interventions with clients? Does this pattern change from session to session? And to what effect? Though process research on psychotherapy is extensive, similar studies in the coaching field are scarce. 

We developed a reliable system for coding coaches' verbal interventions in sessions. We hypothesized that with the goal-focused nature of most coaching relationships the pattern of verbal interventions would differ from session to session. Moreover, we hypothesized that the types of verbal interventions that coaches employed would impact their own and clients' perceptions of the quality of the relationship and the outcomes realized.  

48 practicing professional coaches engaged in short term coaching relationships (approx. 6 sessions) participated in this research by submitting audio recordings of their 2nd, 3rd, and 4th coaching sessions, along with post-session ratings. Both client and coach consent was obtained, and clients likewise submitted post-session ratings.

As a prospective mixed methods study, participating coaches submitted recordings close to each session's completion, along with ratings of relationship quality and perceived outcomes, for three consecutive sessions (2nd-4th). The design required the creation of a reliable method of coding coach interventions; clients' verbal responses were not analyzed. Coaching interventions were coded into 37 different categories, with some interventions representing multiple categories. Frequencies of different types of interventions were controlled for session length, which varied from 30-54 minutes. 

Results depict significantly different profiles of coaching interventions according to session (2nd, 3rd, 4th). Types of interventions were also shown to correlate with post-session ratings of both clients' and coaches' perceptions of relationship quality and goal attainment.

 This study is the first study of its kind to analyze coaching interventions across sessions, as well as to correlate types of interventions with both coach and client post-session ratings. 

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  • Keywords: Coaching, Education, Psychotherapy