Research Summaries Research summary 17 Self Compassion in Coaching

sports coach UK Research Summary 17

© Alan Edwards

Self-compassion Strategies for Coaching

We generally accept that athletes can be ultra-critical of themselves in order to be the best that they can be.
But what if we challenged that notion by encouraging them to be more compassionate towards themselves, and
less obsessed with perfecting their craft? Would that help their improvement and their well-being?

A team of academics in America believe so, having developed a new programme for coaches based on
self-compassion theory. This summary explains the theory behind the programme and provides coaches with
some practical strategies to try in their own coaching.