Oldal 53 [53]
RESEARCH ON CONSULTING — WITH, FOR OR AGAINST PRACTICE?
Still, most empirical studies work with small samples because, among other
things, it is extremely difficult to find a larger number of coaches for scientific
studies. So it seems meaningful and even necessary to examine more closely
the attitudes and expectations of practitioners towards research as well as their
motivation for participating in research, so as to also be able to carry out
ecologically valid studies.
There are currently few systematic surveys on coaching. For this reason,
borrowing findings from psychotherapy research could also be expedient in
relation to the guestion of attitudes towards research. Approaches originally
stemming from psychotherapy already exert a strong influence in the coaching
field. Ihis influence is visible for instance in the use of psychotherapeutic
methods" or the adoption of theoretic models such as the common factor as
per Grawe". Künzli? sums this up by saying that despite all the differences in
regard to target groups, contexts and aims, there are many similarities on a
structural basis, so that taking findings from psychotherapy research can prove
beneficial for coaching research. Smither”’ is also convinced that psychotherapy
research is not only beneficial for practice but can also serve as a guideline for
coaching research.
MOTIVATION TO PARTICIPATE IN RESEARCH
Due to the establishment in the late 1990s of the German “Wissenschaftlicher
Beirat Psychotherapie” (“Scientific Advisory Body on Psychotherapy”) which
has a statutory duty to examine psychotherapeutic methods and techniques,
psychotherapeutic methods in particular are put under political and economic
pressure to prove their efficacy”. As a proof of the efficacy of psychotherapeutic
methods, psychotherapy research requires randomised controlled trials (RCT),
i.e. experiment-based studies of efficacy. To meet these requirements, and for
ecologically valid studies in general, there is a need for patients who are willing
18 C. Rauen, Coaching, 2. aktualisierte Auflage, Serie Praxis der Personalpsychologie, Band 2,
Göttingen, Hogrefe, 2008.
1 K. Grawe, Wie kann Psychotherapie noch wirksamer werden?, Verhaltenstherapie &
psychosoziale Praxis, 31 (2) (1999) 185-199.
?° H. Künzli, Wirksamkeit im Führungskräfte Coaching, Organisationsberatung, Supervision,
Coaching, 16 (2009) 4-18.
21 J. W. Smither, Can psychotherapy research serve as a guide for research about executive
coaching? An agenda for the next decade, Journal of Business Psychology, 26 (2011) 135-145.
2 J. Protz — H. Kachele — S. Taubner, Die Ambivalenz mit der Therapieforschung: Beweggriinde
und Erfahrungen von Psychoanalytikern, Forum Psychoanal, 28 (2012) 67-88.
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