Understanding coach burnout and underlying emotions: a narrative approach

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate coaches’ subjective experiences of burnout in order to shed light on the complex emotional nature of this syndrome. Five full-time paid coaches (two women and three men) experiencing burnout participated in an in-depth individual interview as part of a larger 13-week intervention study. A content analysis of the interview data resulted in the construction of five non-fictional short stories highlighting the emotions underlying the coaches’ experiences of burnout. The coaches described a variety of emotions including anxiety, anger, apathy and dejection, which had negative implications upon their well-being and coaching practice. Emotions were linked to the three dimensions of burnout; that is, emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and reduced personal accomplishment. Findings support calls for intervention research to help coaches manage their emotions and prevent burnout.

Keywords:

• Burnout
• coaching
• emotions
• narrative approach

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Molly, Gordon, Brooke, Michael and Andy for sharing their stories with us.