How experienced coaches use mindfulness in practice and how they know it is useful or beneficial.

Abstract

The research we report on here sought to explore the meaning of mindfulness for experienced coaching practitioners in a practice context. There are many formal definitions, but it is difficult to know how and which ones are used in practice and to what degree or effect. The purpose of the research was to obtain a clearer understanding of what mindfulness is from the practitioners’ perspective in terms of its available definitions and how it is used and is useful or beneficial in practice. The research used qualitative methodology, an interpretivist and constructivist approach, the in-depth interview method, and interpretative phenomenological analysis to analyze the data. Using purposive sampling, we interviewed 30 senior coach practitioners with respect to their position on mindfulness. The coaches’ perspectives are reflected in two metathemes: how coaches used mindfulness, and how coaches know mindfulness is useful or beneficial (i.e., the impact of mindfulness). The first is comprised of five subthemes: practicing with greater awareness in the here and now, being present or having presence and focus, being nonjudgmental and practicing with curiosity and kindness, creating space for clients, and practicing in a more effective and respectful way. The second is expressed in 10 subthemes related to how the coaches know mindfulness is useful or beneficial for themselves, the client, and the coach-client relationship. Further research and specific implications are proposed for the practice of mindfulness in coaching, including an enhanced operational definition and model for mindfulness in coaching.

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