Applying Neuroscience in Career Coaching to assess the Coach-Coachee relationship

Background: Life transitions represent significant moments in a person's life that are marked by substantial and transformative changes that influence an individual's life trajectory and profoundly affect subjective well-being. These transitions encompass a wide range of experiences, from educational achievement to career changes, and play a key role in shaping the overall life experience. Navigating these periods of change involves facing challenges and adjustments that become integral to personal well-being. Recently, career coaching has emerged as an important tool to help people navigate these complex life transitions. This specialized form of coaching goes beyond career counseling and offers a holistic approach to personal development and self-awareness. Transitioning from an academic environment to the dynamic professional world requires a support system that goes beyond traditional counseling, and career coaching, with its emphasis on individual growth, provides people with the tools and insights they need to manage this journey successfully. While the importance of the coach-coachee relationship to the effectiveness of coaching programs has been widely recognized, the challenge has been to objectively quantify the quality of this relationship. Method: Our pilot study addressed this gap by taking a neuroscientific approach, using electroencephalography (EEG) to measure and analyse brain activity during coaching sessions. Therefore, 14 university students and one professional coach trained in the Core Coaching approach participated in coaching sessions characterized by three sequential phases, while the neurophysiological activity of both the coach and the coachee was continuously and simultaneously recorded (by means of EEG). In the first phase, the coach and coachee establish contact, build a relationship, and identify the main theme of the coaching intervention. In the second phase, with the help of the coach, the coachee gains greater and deeper self-awareness by focusing more on him/herself than on the relationship with the coach. In the final stage, the coachee reaches a level of self-awareness that leads to a state of wellbeing. The use of neuroscientific tools allowed the observation of neurophysiological patterns associated with different mental states, providing insight into the affective states of both the coach and the coachee during the three different phases of the coaching session. Results: Distinct variations in electroencephalographic indicators emerged across different phases of the coaching session. Specifically, the first and third phases were associated with higher levels of emotional valence (Approach-Withdrawal Index), arousal (BAR index), and cognitive engagement (BATR index) than the second phase. Conclusions: The implications of our research extend beyond academia and provide practical insights for coaching interventions. The introduction of objective metrics to evaluate the coach-coachee relationship helps to refine coaching practices, thereby facilitating smoother transitions from academic to professional life. By shedding light on neural activity in the coach-coachee relationship, our study is at the forefront of the intersection of neuroscience and career coaching. In doing so, we deepen our understanding of the coaching process and provide a pathway for fostering resilience and success across life transitions.