This paper was aimed at investigating the construction and validation of the SelfReflection and Insight Scale (SRIS) which is designed to be an advance on the Private SelfConsciousness Scale (PrSCS; Fenigstein, Scheier, & Buss, 1975). Previous work has found the PrSCS to comprise two factors, self-reflection and internal state awareness. In a series of studies two separate factor analyses found the SRIS comprised two separate factors labeled Self-Reflection (SRIS-SR) and Insight (SRIS-IN. The PrSCS correlated positively with the SRIS-SR and negatively with the SRIS-IN. The SRIS-SR correlated positively with anxiety and stress, but not with depression and alexithymia. The SRIS-IN was negatively correlated with depression, anxiety, stress and alexithymia, and positively correlated with cognitive flexibility and self-regulation. Implications of these findings for models of self-regulation and goal attainment are discussed.

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Despite its high media profile and growing popularity there have been no empirical investigations of the impact of life coaching on goal attainment, metacognition or mental health. This exploratory study used life coaching as a means of exploring key metacognitive factors involved as individuals move towards goal attainment. In a within-subjects design, twenty adults completed a life coaching program. Participation in the program was associated with enhanced mental health, quality of life and goal attainment. In terms of metacognition, levels of self-reflection decreased and levels of insight increased. Life coaching has promise as an effective approach to personal development and goal attainment, and may prove to be a useful platform for a positive psychology and the investigation of the psychological mechanisms involved in purposeful change in normal, nonclinical populations.In working with individuals to improve the quality of their lives, psychology has traditionally focused on alleviating dysfunctionality or treating psychopathology in clinical or counseling populations rather than enhancing the life experience of normal adult populations.However, it is clear that the general public has a thirst for techniques and processes that enhance life experience and facilitate personal development. The market for personal development material has grown rapidly worldwide since the 1950s (Fried, 1994). Although psychologists feature infrequently as producers of this material, psychology has a genuine and important contribution to make in terms of adapting and validating existing therapeutic models for use with normal populations, and evaluating commercialized approaches to person-

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This paper is made available online in accordance with publisher policies. Further papers on coaching can be found at Dr Jonathan Passmore"s publications library. All research papers are made available as open access publications. Please scroll down to view the document itself. To see the final version of this paper please visit the publisher"s website. Access to the published version may require a subscription.

Executive coaching is often used in times of organisational change to help executives develop the psychological and behavioural skills needed to focus on reaching their work-related goals whilst simultaneously dealing with the turbulence associated with organisational change. Despite its widespread use, little research has explored the impact of executive coaching during periods of organisational change. This within-subject study used both quantitative and qualitative measures to explore the impact of executive coaching during a period of organisational change on 31 executives and managers from a global engineering consulting organisation. Participation in the coaching was associated with increased goal attainment, enhanced solution-focused thinking, a greater ability to deal with change, increased leadership self-efficacy and resilience, and decrease in depression. The positive impact of coaching generalised to non-work areas such as family life. Recommendations are made for the measurement and design of executive coaching programmes.

This study compared the effects of problem-focused and solution-focused coaching questions on positive and negative affect, self-efficacy, goal approach, and action planning. A total of 225 participants were randomly assigned to either a problem-focused or solution-focused coaching condition. All participants described a real-life problem that they wanted to solve and set a goal to solve that problem. They then completed a set of measures that assessed levels of positive and negative affect, self-efficacy, and goal attainment. In the problem-focused coaching condition 108 participants then responded to a number of problem-focused coaching questions and then completed a second set of measures. The 117 participants in a solutionfocused coaching session completed a mirror image of the problem-focused condition, responding to solution-focused questions including the "Miracle Question." Both the problem-focused and the solution-focused coaching conditions were effective at enhancing goal approach. However, the solutionfocused group had significantly greater increases in goal approach compared to the problem-focused group. Problem-focused questions did not impact on positive or negative affect or self-efficacy. In contrast the solution-focused approach significantly increased positive affect, decreased negative affect, and increased self-efficacy. In addition, the solution-focused group generated significantly more actions steps to help them reach their goal. Although real-life coaching conversations are not solely solution-focused or solely problem-focused, agents of change should aim for a solution-focused theme in their work if they wish to conduct effective goal-focused sessions.Solution-focused approaches are strength-based approaches that emphasize people's resilience, strengths, and resources and how these can be utilized in the pursuit of goals and the enactment of purposeful positive change (grant, 2011). originating in the counselling and therapeutic fields from anthony M.

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