This study examines coaching clients’ metaphors for their experiences of coaching. Semistructured
interviews with a specific focus on metaphor were carried out with six participants
who had recently completed a cycle of coaching as a client. Interview material was analysed
using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The findings suggest that eliciting metaphors
is an effective, though problematic, means of generating experientially-rich research material.
Findings highlight the relationship between metaphor and embodied experience; the sense of
having grown as a result of the coaching; and the experience of time during the coaching
encounter. Implications for coaching theory, practice and research are considered.
Keywords: coaching; metaphor; experience; embodiment; space, tim
