The self-employed coachs experience of self-doubt: a phenomenological enquiry Sas Petherick 12 th Annual Coaching and Mentoring Research Conference, Oxford Brookes University, 14th January 2016 Kia ora - Im Sas Petherick Self-employed coach for four years Coaches Training Institute Dr. Martha Beck MA Oxford Brookes Cognitive based coaching practice Clients are women based in US/Canada, UK, NZ & Australia. Choosing the topic: self-doubt and me My sources of self-doubt: the practice of coaching and the business of coaching Supervision & Business Coaching important sources of development homes for the shadow - Bachrikova 2015, p11 Research aims To understand something of the nature of self- doubt: What are the psychological, cognitive, emotional, felt- sense experience of self-doubt? How does self-doubt impact their coaching? Is there a pattern or thematic nature to self-doubt? Explore the phenomenological experience of self- doubt of four women who are self-employed coaches Current Literature Few studies: de Haan & Hindmarsh Nature of Self-doubt: unclear, ephemeral, hidden The entrepreneur is an heroic self-made man Ahl, 2006 IPA Methodology Interpretavist - being a person is the activity of meaning-making Kegan, 1982 Interested in the quality and texture of the experience Willig, 2000 IPA offered a way of formally separating from my own experience. The Research Participants The Research Process The Dimension of Unknown Space The Dimension of Visibility The Dimension of Movement Key Findings Experience of self-doubt has symbolic, psychological and economic impacts Important need for holding environments for self-employed coaches Entrepreneurial processes are relevant and necessary for coaches. Questions for Further Research What are the characteristics of confident self- employed coaches? Can these be identified, taught or replicated? Questions?