Certified Professional Co-Active Coaches: Why They Enjoy Coaching

The evidence-base for the practice of coaching continues to flourish, despite the fact that very little is known about the practitioners (i.e. the coaches) themselves. It is of value to understand how coaches perceive their practice. Such information can be utilized to create a common knowledge-base about coaches that can be used, in turn, to track trends and forward research that evaluates coaching services. As the use of Co-Active coaching in facilitating behaviour change continues to rise it becomes important to learn more about Certified-Professional Co-Active Coaches (CPCC). Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate what CPCCs enjoy about being coaches. These results were contained within a larger survey. A total of 390 CPCCs who were over 18 years of age, could read English, and had access to the Internet participated in the current study. Findings included: that witnessing clients change their lives; the sense of satisfaction and fulfillment from coaching; the collaborative relationship with clients; the autonomy and flexibility of the profession; and the gratification received from using their skill set were the main reasons CPCCs enjoyed coaching. This paper elaborates on these findings and makes suggestions for future research

The adolescent experience of motivational interviewing-via-Co-active Life Coaching as a motivational intervention: A constructivist grounded theory

Motivational Interviewing-via-Co-Active Life Coaching (MI-via-CALC) was investigated as a possible behaviour intervention for adolescents who experience stressors in their lives. The strength of this constructivist grounded theory (CGT) study was its potential to explain what eventuated from the adolescents’ experience of MI-via-CALC. Of considerable import among the findings is that the coaching relationship is critical to the adolescent throughout the processes of MI-via-CALC. “Getting it done” emphasized the process that developed from this CGT study, and best related the four major concepts, “empowering self,” “shoring up purpose,” “creating connections” and “envisioning the future.” The knowledge developed from this study delivers implications for health promotion, education, parenting, further research, and counselling

Assessing the impact of Motivational-Interviewing via Co-active Life Coaching on engagement in physical activity

The purpose of this 12-week pre-post design study was to assess the impact of Motivational Interviewing via Co-Active Life Coaching (MI-via-CALC) on engagement in physical activity for 25 women between the ages of 30 and 55 years. Data on task self-efficacy, barrier-specific self-efficacy, self-esteem, physical activity (PA), body mass index (BMI), and waist-to-tip ratio and circumference were collected. Results indicated some positive, but not significant differences in barrier-specific self-efficacy, which were detected between pre- and post- intervention, and statistically significant differences in self-esteem between pre- and post-intervention were found. No statistically significant differences were found in participants’ task self-efficacy scores and PA scores. Statistically significant decreases were detected for BMI, and waist-to-hip ratios and circumference. MI-via-CALC is an encouraging approach for women who are seeking a more physically active lifestyle, and additional research with a larger sample size is recommended

The impact of a one-day applied training in motivational interviewing on health practitioners’ perceived competence, autonomy, efficacy, and attitudes to facilitate behavior change: A pilot study

Abstract Objective: Because the practical application of motivational interviewing (MI) for health practitioners has been highlighted as a limitation to the approach, the purpose of this pilot study was to assess the impact of a one-day training workshop in MI applied through Co-Active life coaching (CALC) skills on health care practitioners' perceived competence, autonomy and attitudes toward facilitating health-behavior changes. Methods: A pre-test/post-test multiple baseline design was used with 10 health care practitioners. Data was collected beginning 25 days prior and for 4 weeks post-training. Participants received a 7.5 hour interactive workshop in January 2011. The Perceived Competence Scale, the Perceived Autonomous Motivation Scale and the Nutrition in Patient care Survey were adapted and administered to assess attitudes toward facilitating health-behavior changes in clinical care. Results Conclusion: Participation in this applied workshop was effective and should be explored further with a larger group. Practice Implications: This training improved practitioners' comfort to counsel behavior changes and may be a useful training model for health professionals