Research Question #5
RQ 5 - What benefits do students associate with Edge coaching services?
When describing the most useful and enjoyable aspects of working with Edge coaches, students overwhelming described the coaching relationship itself as a primary benefit. In comparison to friends, family members, and other professionals, participants found coaches to be uniquely skilled at understanding them in nonjudgmental ways and motivating them to persist at new approaches to goal attainment. Consistent
engagement with a caring coach, in turn, led to positive benefits in students‟ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Students‟ self-awareness grew as they began thinking about the impact of ADHD in more realistic ways. Coaching helped students feel more
confident about self-regulating their approaches to goal attainment, which reduced their daily anxiety. The coaching relationship also helped students develop more effective and individualized strategies for achieving their goals.
P. 2 “Inspiration” Mindmap of Answer to RQ5
P. 3 5-1: The coaching relationship was a uniquely helpful partnership.
P. 7 5-1a. Coaches provided nonjudgmental understanding of students‟ experiences. P. 13 5-1b. Coaches offered effective suggestions in a respectful manner.
P. 17 5-1c. Coaches held students accountable.
P. 21 5-1d. Students enjoyed a positive sense of relatedness with their coaches.
P. 25 5-2: The coaching relationship helped students develop more effective belief systems.
P. 25 5-2a. Students focused on their goals, values, and preferred approaches to goal attainment.
P. 27 5-2b. Coaching helped students normalize the ADHD experience and develop more realistic approaches to goal attainment.
P. 34 5-2c. Students developed greater self-awareness and self-acceptance about their strengths and weaknesses.
P. 40 5-3: The coaching relationship helped students enjoy more positive feelings.
P. 40 5-3a. Students felt more empowered to try their own approaches. P. 42 5-3b. Students felt more confident about their emerging proficiency. P. 51 5-3c. Students felt less daily stress while in college.
P. 59 5-4: The coaching relationship helped students experience the benefits of more self-regulated behaviors.
P. 59 5-4a. Using a caring approach, coaches helped students create routines and structures for planning, reflecting, and problem solving.
P. 65 5-4b. Students enhanced their use of self-talk to stay focused and persist with goals.
P. 71 5-4c. Students experienced better academic outcomes, including good grades or better approaches to achieve good grades.
P. 76 5-4d. Students developed more individualized strategies for learning, being organized, and managing their time.
P. 90 5-4e. Coaching helped students live more balanced, healthier lives.
“Inspiration” Mindmap of Answer to RQ5
5-1: The coaching relationship was a uniquely helpful partnership.
Interviewer: When you think about all those different adults in your life who‟ve helped you in different ways, and you think about the way your coach has tried to help you, has her approach been real similar to other people‟s
approaches? Has it been different from other people‟s approaches? Lindsay: It‟s been different because, with counselors or my psychiatrist, they're
more focused on more emotional aspects of things instead of goals. It‟s more of them listening and talking me through something. But my coach can talk me through more things like academics or strategies to help me adapt to this environment better. And some of those other professionals, that‟s just not why they were in my life to begin with. That‟s not why they were working with me.
Interviewer: So her skill set sounds pretty unique to your experience. She‟s doing something nobody else has really done with you before?
Lindsay: Right.
Interviewer: Has her approach to working with you been different from the type of people you worked with before or who might work with other college students here? Is she unique or is she like everybody else?
Logan: She‟s definitely unique. She kind of brings a different set of skills to the table. But in a way, she is like everybody else because I feel that, even with coaching, it‟s still up to you to take the initiative and get stuff done. And so, in that respect, just another tool that you can use. But she‟s definitely unique.
Interviewer: Can you say more about how she‟s unique?
Logan: I guess with professors and stuff they're not really, their focus is on teaching their specific subject. So they‟re not there to help you balance your life, they're definitely not fit to do that and neither are tutors and neither are most professionals on campus. She‟s specifically there to help you with studying, structuring your life and working with the ADHD, so just another set of tools. Definitely fits the unique place that isn‟t covered by anybody else.
Interviewer: Did you ever feel resistant, like you're being told what to do and you didn‟t want to do it?
Kayla: I have in other situations, and that„s why it hasn‟t worked in other... Like, with my mother. But. with [my coach], I never felt that. I felt like we were a team. Like she was doing something. And she would tell me, the way that she would present it... My counselor, my therapist that I go to, I feel very resistant to the things that she says to me. And she‟s the type of person that tries to make me feel guilty if I don‟t do the things that she has put out there for the week.
Interviewer: Umm-hmm.
Kayla: And with [my coach], she‟ll say, "Oh, that‟s too bad that you didn‟t get that done. How do you feel about that? Now that you look back at that, how do
you want to change that in the future?" And we would discuss it, and I would feel bad if there was something I didn‟t do, but I wouldn‟t feel guilty. Interviewer: Okay. Well, that‟s helpful.
Kayla: Yeah. It really is.
Interviewer: Did you bring in an artifact to symbolize what coaching means to you? John: A metaphor that you‟re looking for?
Interviewer: Yeah, something like a metaphor; an object, a picture.
John: The thing I‟m thinking of, you couldn‟t really bring, couldn‟t really catch. It‟s kind of when people, centuries ago, would sail the seas using the wind to just guide them. Coaching, for the most part, I think, feels as though it‟s just a gentle breeze. It‟s not a strong, powerful push. It‟s a gentle breeze guiding you in the right direction.
Interviewer: What would be different about working with a psychologist on that compared to working with a coach?
Bill: Considering that I haven‟t spoken with a psychologist in quite a while, so…
Interviewer: Hypothetically.
Bill: They might be more into listening and not necessarily critiquing? I don‟t know. I don„t know what the main difference would be aside from their academic accreditation, maybe…
Interviewer: Let‟s stay there for just a second, if we can, and then we‟ll move on. Because you were very clear that, “It‟s not like I‟m going to a psychologist to work on that.”
Bill: There‟s no pressure. I don‟t feel like I‟m being psychoanalyzed or anything like that.
Interviewer: What is your coach doing?
Bill: She‟s being a friend almost, you know what I mean? She‟s a coach, but she‟s…I don‟t know. She just seems like more of a friend. She can see my future with me. I can explain things that a psychiatrist or a psychologist isn‟t necessarily be interested in.
Interviewer: So your coach helps you see your future? She sees it with you. That‟s a really powerful statement.
Interviewer: Sounds like you guys have formed a good partnership, very effective, trusting, and respectful.
Dylan: That‟s the most important [thing] in coaching, in my opinion, is the partnership. You have to be able to associate with your coach. If you‟re not able to associate with your coach, it‟s not going to work well. But if you‟re able to form a strong partnership with him, I think that‟s going to go on very well.
Interviewer: What have you liked best about coaching?
Dylan: The ability to have someone, like a second-hand observer situation, go over stuff with you. That you can basically talk to [and] has been very
helpful in situations, because it offers you the second-hand point of view, somewhat like the impartial point of view. A very much unbiased issue because they really just want to help...
Interviewer: That would seem to suggest that you had a lot of trust or respect for what your coach was offering you. Is that fair to say?
Sarah: Well, something that I was telling you earlier about how when [my coach] and I first started talking. It was really hard to figure out what I needed from her because my parents had done such a great job with, "This is just how you should operate your life; being confident, knowing what you want, knowing what you‟re going after." But I really didn‟t know how to break it down for her. One of the things that my parents had always taught me [was], if they have a higher title than you or if they are older than you, you need to have a little respect and just listen to what they have to say. Hear what they have to say, interpret it and then you can go about it as you want. So that‟s something that‟s just been built into my habits, I guess. And so, even if an old person I don‟t know, could be 80 years old, comes up to me off the street and says something to me, I‟m going to at least stand there and listen. I don‟t have to act on whatever they say but it‟s nice that they know you‟re listening, I guess. So, when [my coach] would be saying this stuff that was some of that at first, "You‟re crazy." I‟m not going to not bring my laptop to class because I‟ll be so bored. But then after hearing it and thinking, “Wow, it‟s something so simple but it really could change my entire grade, change the way I look at the lecture," something so simple like that. No one‟s ever told me that. Hearing it, I said, “Makes sense, why don‟t I just try?” So, it was a level of trust; it was a level of respect, too.
Interviewer: Have you had any other working relationships where you felt like you could tell them, “Look, this is how I need you to talk to me. This is how I want you to talk to me.”
Justin: No. I can‟t really say that I have. There‟s been teachers that just talk to me however they wanted and I just kind of had to bite my tongue because I knew that I couldn‟t say what I wanted to.
Interviewer: So what was it about [your coach] that made you feel like that was okay to do?
Justin: The first couple of sessions, we just talked. I talked about myself and she kind of related to it, I guess. But it felt like a safe environment to be able to say what I wanted to say and I knew that she was going to say what she needed to say.
Interviewer: Are coaching and therapy the same model?
Rachel: No. And I don't know if I read on the Edge Foundation website or where I had read that, but somewhere along the line, that was stated that
coaching and therapy are not the same. And I've been to a counselor before, so I know the difference.
Interviewer: What's the difference?
Rachel: Well, in counseling, it very, very, very, much personal, "I feel this" and "Dealing with this." As far as coaching, and I was talking about counseling before, I don't know if I said the wrong word, but as far as coaching, it was more like, it's hard because I'm more of an externalizer but I would try to just say, "Here's what happened with my teacher. Practically, what do you think?" or "How can I approach them better?"
Interviewer: So, you feel that she actually helped you build some specific skills?
Lauren: Yeah, I think that coming with ADHD or just, you have a lot of good ideas of how to change. Or you know what you need to change but it‟s in your weak moments that you create what you don‟t want. My coach is kind of like the wall, the center. She provides the stability and a purpose and what‟s going on. So, when I‟m lacking that bridge for that day, my whole plan isn‟t thrown off because, if I need to, if I‟m desperate, I can get a hold of [my coach]. And [she'll say], "You can patch this up," and then I can still move forward. And I think that moving forward is really important to getting to where you want to go; whatever your specific goals are.
Courtney: And also, I don‟t know if therapy is associated with someone trying to teach a way, a certain way of doing things or the correct way of doing things, but that‟s definitely not what it was when I was having coaching sessions with [my coach], because I was kind of figuring it out on my own and he was doing it with me. He was learning about me as I was learning about myself. And we were both learning at the same time how I could make changes. And he did draw on insight a lot but it didn‟t feel like a prescriptive pathway of trying to heal me as therapy might do. He‟s taking something, not necessarily broken but... Therapy might take something that‟s broken and fix it. Whereas…right from the start, he would say all the things that I‟m doing well already and how he‟s impressed that I‟ve been able to do so much considering all the conditions. And just go from there and move forward.
Interviewer: Let me repeat something you just said and ask you to fill in the blank. So therapy takes something or someone who‟s broken and fixes them. Coaching ______…
Courtney: I don‟t know what to say. Coaching, I guess, takes something that is functioning, but could go about doing some things in a more efficient way, and helps that happen. And that basically affects every other aspect of my life.
Courtney: I think that coaching should be available to everybody. Interviewer: Everybody with ADD or everybody?
Courtney: Everybody with ADD and learning disabilities. And I think that [it] is definitely a life changing thing. I don‟t know how much it costs, but it would be cool if cost wasn‟t an issue because I feel like now that ADD is understood more, I think it‟s the time to face that. Coaching, the fact that
this program exists, it‟s really inspirational and it just feels right because I know that ADD is a really commonly misunderstood thing. And a lot of people don‟t realize how it can influence all different aspects. And the fact that [my coach] is just so familiar with all of this and he just understand it, I feel like that understanding is something so crucial to the healthy
development of yourself and your self-image and the way you carry yourself and the way you grow as a person and contribute to society. I think it‟s important for everybody. My dad has ADHD and he never had [coaching]. And now he acknowledges that he has self-esteem problems and he attributes them to peoples‟ lack of understanding. And he has always hoped that my brother and I, since we figured out earlier on, that we can learn from this and grow in a way that he wished he could have. Interviewer: It sounds like coaching has made a very profound impact on your life and
will continue to do so. I‟m glad you‟ve had the opportunity to experience it. Courtney: Me, too. I feel really lucky.
Interviewer: How would you describe what coaching is all about?
Brooke: Coaching‟s mostly for me about figuring out plans on how to go about completing tasks. Whether they're goals or papers or whatever else it may be. It‟s mostly finding a way of figuring out how to do that. Finding strategies of coming back into the center, focusing, and getting things done.
Interviewer: Thus far, what have you liked best about coaching? Mitchell: I guess figuring out easier ways to do stuff.
Interviewer: Okay. What do you like about that?
Mitchell: It makes doing things, I guess, accomplishing goals, certain goals and makes them less difficult.
Interviewer: Is there any change in how you feel about all that as you‟re going through that effort?
Mitchell: Yes, but I don‟t know how to describe it.
5-1a. Coaches provided nonjudgmental understanding of students’ experiences.
Interviewer: Okay, got it. Well, it sounds like that you‟re pretty honest, then, with [your coach]. Even though you may have worried initially that she would judge you, if you didn‟t get something done that you said you were going to do, you told her that.
Emily: Yep.
Interviewer: Okay. Has that been the case throughout your coaching relationship with her?
Emily: Uh-huh. Definitely. It‟s one of those things from psychology. You talk about counseling or therapy or anything. You‟re not going to get
anywhere if you‟re not truthful with the person you‟re working with. And I just kind of made that leap also with ADD coaching; it‟s going to be the same sort of situation.
Interviewer: But I‟m curious, is there anything else about it besides that that you just like or that‟s been really enjoyable about it for you?