Perspectives and challenges for the study of brain responses to coaching: Enhancing the dialogue between the fields of neuroscience and coaching psychology

Article: The interest in coaching psychology and neuroscience have been steadily increasing over the past 15 years. However, the two fields have not yet established consistent dialogues underpinned by experimental research. This paper highlights the importance of such dialogue for the growth of evidence-based coaching and how coaching psychology could benefit from previous neuroimaging and electroencephalographic studies in the field of psychotherapy and task-specific brain functioning to design research protocols that could significantly contribute to our understanding of how coaching works at the brain level and how coachees could best achieve results.

Launched in August, 2020, The International Journal of Coaching Psychology is a peer reviewed journal that publishes theory, research and practice articles on all aspects of coaching psychology.

The International Journal of Coaching Psychology editorial team invite papers on the theory, research and practice of coaching psychology. Editorials are written by the editors on topics of general interest or journal policy. Perspectives, leading articles, invited papers and keynote speeches maybe commissioned from experts in the coaching psychology and applied fields.

The journal team welcome research and discussion papers, brief reports, short papers on techniques, book reviews and conference reports.

The journal is sponsored by the International Society for Coaching Psychology, a professional membership body.

The Editor is Dr Siobhain O’Riordan PhD.

Another article by the team at the Coaching Psychology Unit, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brazil and the Centre for Neuroscience, International Academy for Professional Development. The group undertook a systematic review of electroencephalographic findings in patients with major depressive disorder during cognitive or emotional tasks. The studies identified reveal the frontal cortex as an important brain structure involved in the
complex neural processes associated with MDD. Findings point to disorganization of right-hemisphere
activity and deficient cognitive processing in MDD. Depressed individuals tend to ruminate on negative
information and respond with a pattern of relatively higher right frontal activity to emotional stimuli
associated with withdrawal and isolation.

Take a look at the article, in press.

de Freitas, S.B., Marques, A.A., Bevilaqua, M. C., de Carvalho, M. R., Ribeiro, P., Palmer, S., Nardi, A. E. & Dias, G. P. (in press). Electroencephalographic findings in patients with major depressive disorder during cognitive or emotional tasks: a systematic review. Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria. DOI: 10.1590/1516-4446-2015-1834.

We are pleased to announce that Dr Gisele Dias PhD has joined the Centre for Neuroscience faculty. Dr Dias is a neuroscientist, psychologist and coaching psychologist. She is Director of the Coaching Psychology Unit and member of the Translational Neurobiology Unit at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brazil.

She has published several original articles and review papers in both psychology and neuroscience journals. This includes articles on coaching psychology and also the problems involved in undertaking neuroscience research applied to the field of coaching psychology.

Her main research areas of interest are the neurobiological correlates of coaching outcomes and the interface between coaching, positive psychology and mental health/wellbeing. She is first author of “Cognitive-behavioural coaching: evidence-based and solution-focused human development”, published in Brazil in 2015 by Editora Cognitiva.

Professor Stephen Palmer,  said, “We are really pleased that Dr Gisele Dias has joined the team. Her experience in both coaching psychology and neuroscience brings together two fields that are of great interest to our students at our affiliated centres which are attached to the International Academy for Professional Development.”