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

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 meta-themes: 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 sub-themes: practicing with greater awareness in the here and now, being presenter having presence and focus, being non-judgmental 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 sub-themes 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.  Most investigations into mindfulness has not been based on standardized or validated empirical researcher outcome studies with respect to its use in a coaching context (Grant, 2013; Virgili, 2013). There are concerns about its lack of content validity or external supports for construct validity and the means for measuring mindful communication (Park et al., 2013; Prince-Paul & Kelley, 2017). Furthermore, it is difficult to define partly because it overlaps with other constructs, the aims of which do not appear to differ from those of mindfulness (Langer & Moldoveanu, 2000; Passmore, 2009). An example is Johns’ (2013) consideration that both reflection and mindfulness are typologies on a scale of reflective practices.

The major concern with the concept of mindfulness is the definitional challenges it poses for qualitative research, let alone quantitative research (Grant, 2013). One source considers it to be “a confused construct” that lacked “definitional clarity and consistency across research studies” (Cavanagh & Spence, 2013, pp.113–114). Others continue to consider that a clear and agreed-upon coach practitioner definition of mindfulness has not been reached (Nilsson & Kazemi, 2016; Spence, 2019; Trowbridge & Mische Lawson, 2016; Virgili, 2013). Few papers explored the benefits of mindfulness or the development of it in practice by coaches for themselves or their clients (Passmore, 2017). In view of this, it was difficult to know which definitions of mindfulness coaches have used and to what degree or effect they used it in practice or if they independently developed their own understanding of mindfulness through the practice of it.