Storytelling in Coaching
How narrative work makes problems visible without reducing people to them – and why change is more than positive thinking.
Why storytelling in coaching does not mean talking yourself into something good.
Storytelling in coaching can quickly sound like a simple promise: tell your life a different story, and everything will improve.
I don't understand it that way.
Storytelling doesn't mean packaging difficult experiences more prettily. Nor does it mean turning every crisis into a hero's tale. But good storytelling can help to make sense of experiences: What happened? What was the conflict? What role did I take on? Where were the turning points? What has not yet been told?
That's exactly where its power lies.
Storytelling creates connection
Many people come to coaching when individual experiences can no longer be combined into a coherent whole. Something no longer fits: the old role, the profession, a relationship, a self-image, a life plan.
Storytelling doesn't help to invent a new story immediately. It helps to understand the existing story better first.
What's actually going on here?
Am I the one who always has to perform in this story?
Am I the one who adapts?
The one who is late?
She, who must remain strong?
Or are there other roles, other scenes, other meanings?
A good story isn't just made up of events. It has structure: a beginning, conflict, turning points, repetitions, breaks and potential developments. It is precisely this structure that can make visible in coaching where something has become stuck and where movement becomes possible.
The problem isn't the whole person
Here, storytelling meets narrative work. An important thought is: people are not the problem. The problem is the problem.
Many people tell very condensed sentences about themselves:
I'm too sensitive.
I am not resilient.
I am complicated.
I can't get my life together.
The good news is: a different story is possible. One that fits us better. One that reflects our values, our goals, hopes and desires, and helps us live in harmony with ourselves.