Why Journaling Should Be Part of Your Coaching Toolbox | by Kerryn Griffiths PhD, PCC

This article is shared with permission from Kerryn Griffiths PhD and is from her archives of "Coaching Research in Practice".

Why Journaling Should be Part of Your Coaching Toolbox

Many coaches would consider journaling to be a standard tool in their coaching toolbox. However, there are very likely an equal number of coaches, who have never used journaling with clients or who use it very rarely.

This issue of Coaching Research in Practice reflects on a recent paper about the value of journaling in coaching. It describes a strategy for using journaling prompts to complement coaching sessions and highlights clear benefits that include optimising and enhancing the coaching experience, supporting deeper exploration, empowering clients and accelerating progress.

Coaching Research

In their 2022 paper, “‘It’s kind of revolutionary’ - An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Exploring Clients’ Experiences of Using Journaling in Coaching”, Cousins and Giraldez-Hayes identify the lack of research into the use of journaling in coaching and argue that “the use of creative tools and methods can provide alternative insights and perspectives around an individual’s situation and enable people to explore complex issues” (p. 53).

They point out “that humans have a biological predisposition to understand and comprehend their surroundings via narratives” and that “journal writing specifically helps to make sense of ones’ [sic] experiences, helping individuals to heal and to grow … [and to] express what one may find difficult to verbalise” (p. 54).

Embraced by positive psychology, journal writing is used therapeutically and in health sectors and “although conversations are an effective way to communicate within the coaching setting, sometimes clients may find it difficult to verbalise something they want to express” (p. 55), thereby making journaling a beneficial tool for any coach’s toolbox.

Cousins and Giraldez-Hayes’ study involved five female life coaching participants, who participated in four coaching sessions. Ahead of each session, participants were sent “specifically curated journal prompts … focused on a different topic starting with the client’s goal and what they wanted to achieve, followed by looking at their future, then writing about their current life situation, and finishing on the progress that they had made and key actions they could take away to continue moving forward with their goal achievement” (p. 56). The participants engaged in a short discussion about the experience of journaling before each session, as well as a 45-60 minute semi-structured interview at the end of the four sessions. The study yielded the following findings (p. 58):

1. Journal prompts optimise and enhance the coaching experience

• 1.1. Providing focus and guidance (also between sessions and in a deeper, more structured way)
• 1.2 Encouraging motivation and action taking (participants felt that the two processes together accelerated progress)
• 1.3 Enabling preparation for the coaching sessions (participants felt prepared for sessions with a starting point that enhanced the coaching experience)

2. Journal prompts enable deeper exploration

• 1.1 Opportunity for further inquiry (journaling allowed participants to explore further and reach insights they may not have had otherwise)
• 1.2 Feelings of being challenged but also excitement and enjoyment (journal prompts took participants out of their comfort zones)
• 1.3 Solutions could be found on the page (all participants found solutions to problems when they journaled)

3. Journal prompts empower the client

• 1.1 Realising what they want from life and a clear future vision (journaling helped participants think about and envision their future)
• 1.2 Developing their true, authentic self (journal prompts helped clients create change, discover themselves and improve self-confidence)
• 1.3 Bringing the client to the present (journal prompts were present- and future-focused and allowed participants to leave the past in the past)

In Practice

Cousins and Giraldez-Hayes’ study highlights clear benefits of supporting coaching through structured journal prompts.

Not only does this kind of journaling serve to provide “focus and guidance for the client both within and beyond the coaching session” (p. 62), but “the participants all commented on how they could not imagine the coaching being as effective without the journaling to support it, they felt their progress would have been slower without the two combined” (p. 62).

• Therefore, if you have yet to try journaling as a tool to supplement your coaching, then you may like to try it, simply by asking a client if they’d be open to doing journaling before sessions.
• Then create and offer them one or more journaling prompts that will help them to identify and reflect on the changes that they’re wanting to create.
• Alternatively, for a more scientist-practitioner approach, you might want to start a new client off with the agreement that their coaching will include structured journaling before sessions, whilst keeping the rest of your coaching process the same, to see for yourself what a difference journaling makes to your standard coaching process.

As Cousins and Giraldez-Hayes point out, “The findings from this study echo much of the literature surrounding the positive benefits of writing for understanding and making sense of life experiences” (p. 63).

In this way, even if you don’t have the kind of clients who look upon journaling positively, you may achieve some similar benefits by encouraging the use of reflective writing through session preparation forms or session reflection forms.

What do you think about the findings of this research? Share your thoughts below.

If you liked this article, you may also like:

• How Does Client Readiness Influence Coaching Outcomes? by Kerryn Griffiths PhD, PCC
• The Scientific Benefits of Journaling for Your Brain! by Dr. Irena O'Brien
• Help Leaders Grow with Journaling | Plus 5 Journaling Activities by Lynda Monk CPCC

Contributing Author:

Kerryn Griffiths, PhD (coaching and learning), is the founder and global coordinator of ReciproCoach, an international community of professional coaches for quality, affordable reciprocal peer coaching, mentoring and supervision. Join thousands of like-minded coaches at ReciproCoach.com with the coupon code: CoachingToolsCo and not only will you be on your way to having your own coach, but you'll also receive a year's subscription to your choice of one of the ReciproCoach Business resources ($27.50 value).

Learn more about Kerryn & see all their articles here >>