Integrating socio-cognitive mindfulness and coaching psychology: An intervention development study.

This article focuses on the development of a wellbeing coaching intervention grounded in socio-cognitive mindfulness, a theory emphasizing flexible thinking and environmental mastery without requiring meditation. Using the Medical Research Council’s framework for complex interventions, the study integrated findings from a literature review, systematic review, and stakeholder acceptability study, alongside practitioner reflections, to create a logic model and prototype for an online group coaching program. The intervention aims to activate five socio-cognitive mindfulness processes—welcoming new information, creating new categories, viewing from multiple perspectives, controlling the context, and attending to the process before the outcome—to foster sustainable wellbeing improvements in non-clinical adult populations. The prototype, delivered by a qualified coaching psychologist, includes individual contracting and weekly group sessions with psychoeducation, exercises, coaching questions, and home-based activities, designed to embed mindfulness strategies into daily life. The authors recommend feasibility testing the prototype to address remaining uncertainties regarding participant engagement, acceptability, and outcome measures before full evaluation.