MUSIC IN COACHING

“Words make you think a thought. Music makes you feel a feeling. A Song makes you feel a thought.” – E.Y. Harburg

Listen to Music: G-Eazy - Rewind

Descriptions of listening to different types of rhythms and melodies during competition or battle have been noted to go back thousands of years. Even centuries ago, different types of music often had the power to propel individuals to conflict or peace between cultures and religions. Indeed, early emphasis on the importance of music preference has been described to affect individuals’ overall feelings of positivity or negativity. As 19th century composer Thomas Surrette stated, “For if it is bad music, the more we hear it the worse off we are”. Thus, the individual and cultural effects of music preference have been widely described, but the distinct role it has in optimizing modern-day sport and exercise performance has only recently become a prominent topic of investigation.

Listening to music has been repeatedly shown to have ergogenic benefits during various modes of exercise, including endurance, sprint, and resistance-based activities. Music is commonly incorporated into training regimens by recreational exercisers and competitive athletes alike. While specific modalities of exercise elicit varying physiological responses, listening to music has been shown to modulate many of these responses (i.e., heart rate, catecholamines, muscle activation) often leading to improved performance. Furthermore, listening to music during exercise may positively impact psychological (i.e., mood, motivation) and psychophysiological (i.e., rate of perceived exertion, arousal) changes, which may allow for favourable responses during an exercise challenge.

However, there is mixed evidence regarding music’s efficacy, which may be mediated through differences in music selection and preference. Emerging evidence has shown that, whether an individual prefers or does not prefer the music they are listening to during exercise greatly influences their ergogenic potential in addition to physiological, psychological, and psychophysiological responses to exercise.

From a practical standpoint, music may be controlled by the individual through headphones but is often played communally over speakers in locker rooms, gyms, and health clubs, which may have consequences on performance and training.

Listen to Music:?Queen Of The Damned - Track 7 | Godhead - Penetrate

Since highly pleasurable ‘Music’ increases connectivity in the brain (Harrison & Loui, 2014), the incorporation of general art in coaching increases hemispherical lateralisation (Sheather, 2019), and background music primes creativity and idea generation (Minas & Dennis, 2019), this study intended to explore whether music in a coaching session would activate creative thinking, processing, and problem-solving.

The overall aims of coaching can be summarised as ‘embodied’. For example, establishing desired outcomes and/or directions, increasing motivation, and creating action plans. Coaching methods such as 'Co-active Coaching' have utilised somatics for creative visualisations with role play (Longhurst, 2006). When the body is recognized in coaching, it can help access knowledge, memories, and bring about new patterns of response (Matthews, 2013). With the use of somatics in coaching increasing, coaching could benefit from more embodied processes to help further facilitate these aims.

Coaching has begun to incorporate embodiment over the last decade as an avenue to support coachees in making behavioural shifts (Attan, 2018).

Embodiment is defined as the sense of one’s own body which provides a somatic form of knowledge related to the sense of self (Longo, 2008). Therefore, embodiment is specifically important for coaching’s aim of self-awareness.

Embodiment is also involved in meaning-making because body movements are believed to create meaning (Johnson & Larson, 2003; Leman, 2010, Jackson, 2023). Metaphor’s embodied nature is supported by Emson’s (2016) claim that the attribution of meaning is a metaphorical process.

Listen to Soundtrack: Queen Of The Damned - Track 13 | Tricky - Excess

One of the benefits, is that ‘Music’ has been found to improve well-being and benefit the emotional state, or mood, of individuals who participate in music-making and/or music-listening (Parsons-Smith, 2020). Music also benefits collective wellbeing by increasing feelings of safety, trust, and connectedness in young people (Teasdale, 2020). Well-being is defined as an equilibrium between an individual’s physiological, social, and psychological resources and the challenges faced (Sanders, 2012).

Music engages motor networks in the brain, causes Pacinian corpuscles located in skin, bones, etc. to resonate, and supports gait speed through synchronization, suggesting an interconnection between music and movement. Frisson, or goose-bumps, is a psychophysiological response that encompasses the emotional intensity and tactile sensations induced by music (Loui, 2014).

This body movement commonly occurs with awe-eliciting, transcendent music that orients the listener towards others and the interconnectivity of humanity (Ji, 2019). Music’s relation to embodiment is explored in the field of embodied music cognition. This area emphasizes the contribution the human body has on the enjoyment or performance of music and suggests the body is influential in individuals’ emotional response, perception, and comprehension of music (Leman, 2018).

Grounded in embodied experiences, music has been found to create meaning through context, perceived expressive intent, inherent musical structure, and body movement (Schaerlaeken et al., 2019). Synchronization with music extends beyond emotional and physical synchrony, to the creation of social synchrony such as bonds, comfort, and feelings of belonging as individuals’ states are synchronized together and empathy is increased (Marsh, 2019).

Social dynamics, such as cohesion, empathy, and synchronization, are important to consider in coaching (Emson, 2016; McManus & Giraldez-Hayes, 2021).

Motivation has also been found to increase with music (Riva, 2015), particularly awe-eliciting music mediated by inspiration (Ji et al., 2019). Awe-eliciting music increases motivation as a result of the individual becoming inspired to change their life’s focus onto meaningful endeavours (Ji et al., 2019).

Music has been postulated to influence exercise performance through three main types of mechanisms: psychological, physiological, and psychophysiological. The following two sections will briefly review the psychological and physiological changes to exercise while listening to music. Additionally, intertwined within each of these sections is the interrelatedness of these areas via psychophysiological mechanisms.?

This is supported by findings that the experience of frisson, often associated with awe-eliciting music, activates the reward network of the brain (Loui, 2014). Music has been used to achieve goals such as regulating emotions, creating a diversion, and increasing social cohesion (Liem, 2016). With easier access to personalized music choices, individuals are increasingly using music to reach a desired state or goal (Demetrious et al., 2016). Goal setting and achievement are foundational to coaching. Through increased exposure music has become the art form the public is most familiar and comfortable with.

Listen to: Des'ree - You Gotta Be

In the study it was found that ‘Self-selected’ means the music was chosen by the client or participant on their own accord, with instructions from the facilitator. There is limited research on the effect of self-selected music, likely due to many studies aimed at the analysis of specific types of music, but results are encouraging, suggesting flow-state is more prevalent and emotional state is greatly impacted (Chirico et al., 2015).

Self-selected music is beneficial because it creates a perceived increase in three mood domains; positivity, present-mindedness, and arousal, due to a sense of control (Demetrious et al., 2016).

It was found that self-selected music evoked the most joy compared to classical music, however, results might have been skewed due to instructions given to participants to choose an ‘uplifting song’.

Integration of self-selected music in applied settings is important because it decreases influence from the facilitator and potential aversions to the music. Additionally, familiar music has been found to inspire, motivate, and benefit emotional state due to the stronger and more personal effect (Ji et al., 2019). Alternatively, McFerran found contradicting evidence, suggesting that music preferences of individuals with depression do not always align with wellbeing outcomes (2019).

This was attributed to the individuals’ decreased self-awareness resulting in music choices that intensified depressive feelings. The known benefit of self-selected music suggests the need for research on its use in coaching.

The increased use of music to reach a ‘goal’ state, promotes its application in the field of coaching. This suggests coachees will be comfortable choosing and integrating music into the process of reaching a long-term goal. Integrating self-selected music into a coaching session puts the coachee in control, maintains a client-centred approach, and a unique process for each coachee.

Listen to Music: Amber Run - I found

The Bonny Method

The Bonny Method, is a form of music therapy, was influential to the design of this study, particularly the soundtrack questions asked during the sessions (Abbott, 2005; Jerling & Heyns, 2020). The Bonny Method of 'Guided Imagery and Music' (GIM) is a music psychotherapy method that involves listening to music to elicit imagery experiences that can include; memories, images, feelings, creativity, awareness, self-understanding, insights, growth, and development and imagery experience is the formation of these different types of images that the client experiences.

The Bonny Method was developed by Helen Bonny in the 1970s and used during personal growth and transformational therapy (Abbott, 2005). The Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) is a music psychotherapy method that involves listening to music to elicit imagery experiences that can include; memories, images, feelings, creativity, awareness, self-understanding, insights, growth, development and imagery experience is the formation of these different types of images that the client experience.

In Fig. 1 above, it illustrates the conceptual framework underlying the study which focuses on uncovering the issues underlying substance use with Guided Imagery and Music (GIM), bringing these issues into the clients’ awareness, and to fostering their exploration and working through them in a series of music and imagery sessions. Therefore, the aims of this secondary analysis included the following:

1. Identify the types of imagery and frequency of different imagery experienced in a series of GIM sessions.

2. Identify imagery themes experienced in a series of GIM sessions of adults.

The method utilized pre-determined, Western-classical music that supported clients through a relaxed and meditative state. After the meditation, a therapist asked clients what images and feelings were evoked from the music as the client drew or traced a mandala (Jerling & Heyns, 2020).

Upon observation, the general soundtrack questions used in this study, appeared to provoke more topic discussion after the conversation had tapered off. The soundtrack questions helped participants further develop the soundtrack’s connection to the topic, providing more insight and extending or reinforcing the conversation about the topic.

Listen to: Tina Turner – The Best

IN SUMMARY

In summary, the most likely application of the findings, is for use in coaching sessions, however, other uses for the findings include informing more research on music in coaching or embodied music cognition. For future research with a similar design, it would be useful to extend the current findings by examining the integration of music in an in-person session, asking coachees to self-select an awe eliciting soundtrack they are familiar with, or use different soundtracks over the course of multiple coaching sessions – providing longitudinal analysis.

Implications from this research study are that the integration of music into a coaching session provided many benefits: increased embodiment, aided insight and idea generation, impacted coachees’ mood (e.g., feeling energised, empowered, or calm), provided a motivational reminder, and helped verbalize the topic.

Overall, the use of music in the session aided as a prime for creative thinking. Coachees who are open to the use of music in their coaching sessions could benefit from outcomes similar to those participants experienced. The integration of self-selected music is a valuable addition to the limited research on music’s use in coaching.

The results were relevant for coaching practitioners who are interested in utilising self-selected music in the ways explained, for introduction or one-off sessions where building connectedness is important, for developing coachee self-awareness, and enhancing creative thinking.

Listen to Soundtrack: Queen Of The Damned - Track 14 | kidneythieves - Before I'm Dead

______________________

REFERENCES:

Wilcox, D. and Nethercott, K. (2024) 'Coachees’ Experiences of Integrating a Self-Selected Soundtrack into a one-off Coaching Session', International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring, 22 (1), pp.51-67. DOI: 10.24384/bwa7-sn95 [accessed 03/05/2024]

Heiderscheit, A., (2022), 'Analysis of the type of imagery and imagery themes from Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) sessions with adults in chemical dependency treatment, The Arts in Psychotherapy, Volume 80, 101933, ISSN 0197-4556, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2022.101933. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0197455622000545 [accessed 03/05/2024]

Abbott, E. (2005),'Client experiences with the music in the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music' (BMGIM), Qualitative Inquiries in Music Therapy, 2, 36–61.

Attan, A., Whitelaw, G., & Ferguson, E. (2018). A practical model for embodied coaching. Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, 11(1), 16–29. DOI: 10.1080/17521882.2017.1351460.

Batt-Rawden, K. B. (2010). The benefits of self-selected music on health and well-being. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 37(4), 301–310. DOI: 10.1016/j.aip.2010.05.005.

Bernardi, N. F., Bellemare-Pepin, A., & Peretz, I. (2018). Dancing to “groovy” music enhances the experience of flow: Dance enhances the experience of flow. Annals of the New York, Academy of Sciences, 1423(1), 415–426. DOI: 10.1111/nyas.13644.

Gibbs R., Davis J., (2002), Queen of the Damned, (Soundtrack Album), Genre: Nu-Metal, Label Warner? ?Music Group, Queen of the Damned(link is external) [accessed 03/05/2024]