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HEIDI MOLLER — KATRIN OELLERICH — DENISE HINN — SILJA KOTTE
principally given. Still, 20% of the participants in the survey mentioned general
doubts about psychotherapy research.
By contrast, a new study shows a potential reversal of such attitudes towards
psychotherapy research. Felber and Margreiter** examined the attitudes towards
psychotherapy research by means of semi-structured interviews. The results
showed that the participants of that sample (N=50) had a positive attitude
towards psychotherapy research and saw, above all in the research, added
value in relation to the effectiveness and quality assurance of psychotherapy.
Furthermore, 50% of sample participants were able to name current research
projects and studies. This positive trend was also reported in a study by Thurin
and colleagues*. These results show that the participating psychotherapists
perceived positive effects for their own clinical practice and reported no
negative effects on their patients.
Ihe same applies to coaching: in a survey carried out at a coaching
research conference in 2010, Wegener and colleagues*® showed that the
attitude of practicing coaches towards research is generally positive and that
the attitude towards coaching research was rated as very/rather positive by
88% of participants. The use of coaching research was principally viewed as
furthering coaching as a profession (98%), making coaching more efficient
(88%) and improving the public image of coaching (86%)*'. Still, the current
state of coaching research — as mentioned already — shows that many studies
have only small samples and many studies are carried out on coaches who are
still studying’. So there is a need for experienced practicing coaches who are
willing to let others watch over their shoulder. This is the basic requirement
for ecologically valid studies, without which the development of professional
standards and quality assurance would be impossible.
The actual motivation behind coaches deciding for or against participating
in research still has not been thoroughly examined. Only when the decision
38 M.Felber - U. Margreiter, Einstellung von Psychotherapeut(inn)en zu Psychotherapieforschung,
Pscyhother Forum, 15 (2007) 192-196.
J.-M. Thurin - M. Thurin - N. Midgley, Does participation in research lead to changes in
attitudes among clinicians? Report ona survey ofthose involved in a French practice research
network, Counseling and Psychotherapy Research, 12 (2012) 187-193.
R. Wegener — A. Fritze — M. Loebbert, Coaching entwickeln, Forschung und Praxis im
Dialog, SpringerLink, Bücher, 2., durchgesehene Auflage, Wiesbaden, VS Verlag für
Sozialwissenschaften, 2012.
a Ibid.
12 §. Kotte — K. Oellerich — D. Schubert - H. Möller, Das ambivalente Verhältnis von
Coachingforschung und -praxis: Dezentes Ignorieren, kritisches Beäugen oder kooperatives
Miteinander? in A. Schreyögg — Ch. Schmidt-Lellek (eds.), Die Professionalisierung von
Coaching, Ein Lesebuch für den professionellen Coach, Wiesbaden, VS Verlag, 2015, 23-45.
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