Coaching and Mentoring with Metaphor

R Thompson International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring 2021

This conceptual study explores the effective use of metaphor in coaching and mentoring from literature evidence within the helping professions using a combination of three linked qualitative techniques: (i) a thematic network analysis to organise the coded data; (ii) a qualitative meta-synthesis to synthesise new understandings from the network data; and (iii) a critical realist analysis to enable development of a model for practical metaphor use. Qualitative Meta-synthesis inferred seven highly desired outcomes were important aspects of coaching and mentoring when using metaphor; these were formed from higher-order combinations (syntheses) of themes and codes. Critical realist analysis attempted to answer how these desired outcomes could possibly happen and proposed a model for metaphorbased coaching.