Hope theory in coaching: How clients respond to interventions based on Snyder’s theory of hope

T Worgan International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring 2013

The concept of hope has infused human culture for millennia and in modern times challenged psychologists’ attempts to define and measure individuals’ level of hope. The beneficial impact of increasing hope to improve physical and mental well-being is a tested therapeutic intervention. However, little research has explored this matter in a coaching context. As a practicing coach, I regularly encounter issues around hope with my clients. As a consequence an action research project was designed to address my own personal development as a coach, but also to explore the challenges in identifying, improving and measuring levels hope in clients, using Snyder’s hope theory (1994, 2002) and the hope scale (Lopez, Snyder and Pedrotti, 2003)