Experiences of cognitive coaching: A qualitative study

Abstract

Objectives:Cognitive coaching and cognitive behavioural coaching are approaches practiced by many coaching psychologists (Palmer & Whybrow, 2007). However, there is a lack of qualitative studies evaluating these approaches. The main objective of/with the present study was to investigate a number of participants’ experiences of cognitive coaching.Design:As the study aimed to explore individuals’ experiences of cognitive coaching, a qualitative design was used. In particular, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith & Osborn, 2003) was used to analyse the data.Methods:The study took place in Sweden and 10 individuals, who had participated in cognitive coaching in the workplace, were interviewed. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data.Results:Four main themes emerged from the analysis, and one of these ‘new cognitive and emotional knowledge’ will be discussed in this article. This main theme had two sub-themes, ‘working with thoughts’ and ‘regulate emotions’.Conclusions:The study found that cognitive coaching helped participants to change unhelpful thinking and regulate difficult emotions, and these findings support the continuing development of cognitive/cognitive behavioural coaching.