Research and the practitioner: getting a perspective on evidence

It has often been said that the practice of coaching surpasses coaching research. Such a claim is not unusual for emerging occupations but a new area of practice needs to delineate itself from what has gone before and one way to do this is through the development of a body of knowledge that defines what work is within its scope. Coaching psychology has been trying to do this for some time, seeking to separate its practice from the psychological therapies at one end of the spectrum of helping interventions and consulting at the other. In this chapter we identify the current state of coaching knowledge and seek to identify how practitioners can actively engage with the development of knowledge in the field.