Coaching psychology research: Building the evidence, developing awareness

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What research?In December 2011 Dr Rob Briner was giving an after dinner speech at the Special Group in Coaching Psychology (SGCP) conference dinner, in which he highlighted the lack of empirically sound research for the discipline of coaching psychology. He asked the audience to give examples of coaching psychology research. Radio silence. Followed by an air of disgruntlement. Once I personally got over the feeling of being caught out for not doing my homework, I wanted to offer some suggestions. Not regarding specific published research, but regarding my own experiences of trying to conduct solid coaching psychology research. The moment had gone, but I did havethe opportunity to discuss this with colleagues at the conference the next day, and was subsequently asked to share my thoughts more widely, hence this article. Thefollowing discussion outlines some practical explanations for the proposed dearth of solid empirical research. It also highlights that there is some good research out there already, and looks at how we can make this more accessible, as well as encouraging more evidence published by practitioners.