| Researchers and practitioners of humanistic and positive psychology are currently expanding theories and methods to discover how strengths-based approaches can be applied to enhance individuals' well-being and self-development. The purpose of this study was to customize a one-to-one quality of life coaching intervention, grounded in Self-Determination Theory, and then to investigate how adults demonstrate characteristics of a courageous mindset during times of personal and professional change. This mixed methods study utilized an 8-week, multiple case study design. Eight adults participated in 6 1-hour tele-coaching sessions. Multiple sources of data were collected: a pre-assessment Values in Action Inventory of Character Strengths (VIA-IS) survey, a pre-post Quality of Life Inventory (QOLI) questionnaire, researcher notes, and post-session semi-structured interview transcriptions. The coaching intervention included the VIA-IS and QOLI profile reports, and HeartMath resources. The findings on 3 participants are presented in individual case descriptions and the findings on the remaining 5 participants are presented in tables of themes. An interpretative qualitative cross-case analysis was used to collect, analyze, and interpret the data for all 8 participants. The qualitative findings described (a) how the coaching methodology empowered individuals to fulfill their psychological needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competency; (b) how participants expressed and strengthened characteristics of psychological courage and shifts in motivation over 8 weeks; and (c) the overall effectiveness of the coaching intervention. This study specifically contributes to the emerging field of applied coaching psychology. These results support the value of utilizing a self-determination framework to investigate the process of transformational change in a non-clinical adult population. |
