Transformative change to ‘a new me’: a qualitative study of clients’ lived experience with integrative health coaching

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study was to describe the lived experiences of adult clients who sought Integrative Health Coaching (IHC) to address a chronic health condition. Moustakas’ phenomenological approach was applied to engage nine participants in recorded in-depth interviews and photo-elicitation interviews. Analysis revealed the essence of participants’ IHC experience as engagement in transformative change. Participants described the integrative medicine framework and most notably mindfulness as supporting their engagement in the coaching process. They noted that mindfulness contributed to the coaching relationship as well as promoted their engagement, competence, and autonomy in self-determined goal attainment. Specifically, mindfulness helped participants cultivate self-awareness, insight, and self-acceptance and apply it to goal-directed action. The conceptualization of participants’ lived experiences with IHC described the phenomenon of IHC as whole-person engagement in a mindfulness-based coaching practice established in integrative medicine that resulted in transformative change characterised by health and well-being. Participants described a journey in which they sought IHC to address a health concern and surprisingly discovered a ‘new me.’