The development and feasibility assessment of a wellbeing coaching intervention based on socio-cognitive mindfulness

Abstract

Background: It is recommended that adults have access to proactive wellbeing interventions to protect their mental health, and the coaching industry is well-positioned to support this. The evidence suggests that socio-cognitive mindfulness (Langer, 1989) is a suitable theory from which to develop a coaching intervention due to its links with multiple wellbeing benefits, yet this has not been fully explored in the coaching literature. This thesis aimed to address this by developing a coaching intervention grounded in socio-cognitive mindfulness theory to promote wellbeing development in non-clinical adults. Methods: The pragmatic approach used for the thesis was guided by the Medical Research Council’s framework for developing and evaluating complex interventions (Craig et al., 2013), which involved conducting five studies. First, a systematic review of socio-cognitive mindfulness interventions provided insights relevant to coaching and helped to develop a programme theory for the intervention. Second, a qualitative study explored the acceptability of the proposed intervention with ten coaches leading to intervention design recommendations. Third, the accumulated evidence was triangulated in an intervention development study to refine the programme theory and design a prototype. The fourth study was a quantitative assessment of the intervention’s feasibility and acceptability. The fifth study qualitatively explored the experiences of the six participants who attended the coaching programme. Results: The qualitative findings indicated that multiple processes occurred during the programme, such as the development of cognitive flexibility and wellbeing through cycles of experiential learning, self-regulation and self-efficacy. The feasibility study results demonstrated high intervention attendance, adherence and completion rates, with participant responses inferring that the coaching programme was acceptable and well- received. However, the preliminary assessment of outcomes indicated that the intervention may only be effective in some cases for improving wellbeing. Conclusion: This thesis offers an original coaching intervention which could support wellbeing improvements in some non-clinical adults. The overall findings suggest that there are synergistic benefits available when socio-cognitive mindfulness strategies are integrated into coaching processes.