A Positive Psychology Study of People Pursuing Life Coaching

The Centre for Applied Neuroscience is a life coach training institute, which offers tools and concepts for empowering people to 1) seek and attain personal goals, 2) thrive as an individual through enhancement of personal strengths, and 3) develop greater satisfaction and meaning in life. The course began in 2010 and has since graduated over 135 students, some of whom become life coaches or otherwise use the training professionally and some of whom took the course out of personal interest. The course is one of the most comprehensive life coaching courses available, consisting of 6 months of course work and including psychology and neuroscience as part of its curriculum. Many participants have reported experiencinga significant benefit from taking the course, in terms of improving life satisfaction, wellbeing, confidence, optimism, and sense of self, while also reducing negative affect including anger, frustration, and stress. These qualities of life represent aspects of positive psychology, the sub-discipline within psychology that deals with individuals and communities that thrive and function optimally. The current research is designed to systemically examine (prospectively and retrospectively) the individuals who take the life coaching course and the positive impact that the course has on them by examining several measures of positive psychology.

We are currently collecting data to examine psychological wellbeing, happiness, personal strengths, life satisfaction, and mindful attention in individuals who have participated in our 5-month Life Coaching and Personal Development Course. We are collecting data from individuals before and after completing the course (for classes starting in 2014 and later), as well as individuals who are not currently registered in the course. We are also in the process of following up on all students who have previously taken the course (between 2010 through till the end of 2013), as a post-course survey only.  

The data collected will be combined with pre-existing data that was presented at the Canadian Positive Psychology Conference in July 2014. We plan to publish the full results in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. We will also share these study results publicly when they are available. Preliminary results are available below. 

If you have any questions regarding the participation, the data, or any aspect of the research, please do not hesitate to contact the Principle Investigator, Dr. Mandy Wintink (awintink@canc.ca) or Research Coordinator, Candice Dwyer (info@canc.ca).