Narrative Coaching & Story Work

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

• Explain the core premise of narrative coaching: the stories we tell shape our reality.
• Apply techniques for externalizing problems and re-authoring client narratives.
• Understand David Drake's narrative coaching model.
• Use story-based interventions as a coaching tool.

What Is Narrative Coaching?

Narrative coaching is an approach that views human experience through the lens of story. The core premise is this: we do not tell stories about our lives — we live inside the stories we tell. The way a client narrates their experience determines what they notice, what they feel, what they believe is possible, and what they do.

Narrative coaching draws from multiple sources: narrative therapy (Michael White and David Epston), social constructionism, and the broader field of narrative psychology. David B. Drake, a leading figure in narrative coaching, has developed a rigorous methodology for applying narrative principles in coaching contexts.

Key narrative principles:

• Our identities are constructed through the stories we tell and are told about us.
• No story captures the full complexity of a life — every story has gaps, contradictions, and alternative interpretations.
• Problems are not located "inside" the person; they are located in the stories the person has learned to tell.
• By changing the story, the client can change their experience and their possibilities.

Externalizing Problems

One of the most powerful techniques in narrative coaching is externalization. Externalizing means separating the problem from the person's identity.

When a client says "I am a procrastinator," they have internalized procrastination as part of their identity. The problem has become a fixed trait. Externalization changes the language: "How has procrastination been showing up for you lately? What does it convince you to do? When are you able to push back against it?"

The Language of Externalization

Why Externalization Works

Externalization creates distance between the client and the problem. That distance is therapeutic because it:

1. Reduces shame. "I am not broken; I have a pattern I can change."
2. Creates agency. "If the problem is outside me, I can relationship with it differently."
3. Invites curiosity. "How does this problem operate? When does it have power? When does it not?"
4. Opens space for alternative stories. "What is true about you that the problem does not want you to see?"

Externalization questions:

• "If this problem had a name, what would it be?"
• "When did this story first start telling you who you are?"
• "How does the problem trick you into believing it?"
• "When are you able to resist the problem's influence?"
• "Who would you be without this story?"

Re-Authoring

Re-authoring is the process of helping the client identify and strengthen alternative stories that have been marginalized or overlooked. Every client has multiple stories available. The problem story is just one of them.

Finding "Unique Outcomes"

Unique outcomes (a term from Michael White) are moments that contradict the dominant problem story. The coach listens for them and amplifies them.

Example:

• Dominant story: "I always give up when things get hard."
• Unique outcome: "But last week, I stuck with a difficult conversation even though I wanted to avoid it."

The coach seizes the unique outcome:

"That is interesting. The dominant story says you always give up, but last week you did not give up. Tell me about that. How did you do it? What made it possible? What does that say about you that the dominant story does not capture?"

Building the Alternative Story

Once a unique outcome is identified, the coach helps the client build it into a fuller narrative:

• "What does this moment reveal about what you value?"
• "What skills and strengths did you draw on?"
• "Who in your life would not be surprised that you did this?"
• "What would it mean if this became the new dominant story?"

The re-authored story should be vivid and detailed, with sensory specifics, named characters, and emotional texture. The richer the alternative story, the more it can compete with the problem story for the client's attention.

David Drake's Narrative Coaching Model

David B. Drake, author of Narrative Coaching: The Definitive Guide to Bringing New Stories to Life, developed a structured approach to narrative coaching that integrates storytelling, embodiment, and reflective practice.

Drake's Four Narratives Framework

Drake identified four core narratives that shape our experience:

Drake's model emphasizes embodied narrative awareness — noticing not just the content of the story but how the client's body tells the story. "Where in your body do you feel that story? When you tell this story, how does your posture change? What happens to your breath?"

For more on Drake's work, visit: Narrative Coaching Institute.

Story-Based Interventions

Beyond externalization and re-authoring, narrative coaches use several story-based techniques:

1. Story Deconstruction

Help the client examine the assumptions embedded in their story.

• "Who told you this story? Who benefits from you believing it?"
• "What evidence would challenge this story?"
• "What has this story cost you?"

2. Thickening the Story

Help the client enrich a thin or flat story with more detail, contradiction, and complexity.

• "Tell me more about that moment. What did you see, hear, feel?"
• "Who else was there? What was their perspective?"
• "What was happening just before? Just after?"

3. Re-Membering Conversations

Help the client "re-member" — bring back into their identity story — people, experiences, or values that have been excluded.

• "Who in your past believed in you, and what would they say about this situation?"
• "What part of yourself have you left behind that wants to come back?"

4. Telling and Witnessing

Stories are more powerful when told aloud and witnessed by another person. Invite the client to tell their re-authored story to you. Your witnessing — your attention, your recognition, your reflection — helps the story become real.

Narrative Coaching in Practice

A narrative coaching session might look like:

Assignment

1. Identify a problem story you tell about yourself (e.g., "I am not good at..."). Write it down. Then externalize it: give it a name, describe how it operates, and identify when it has power and when it does not.
2. Find a unique outcome — a time when you acted against the problem story. Write the full, detailed alternative story. Read it aloud to someone. Notice how it feels to speak it.
3. Read about Drake's narrative coaching approach at https://narrativecoaching.com/. Identify one concept you want to explore further.
4. Practice a 20-minute narrative coaching session with a peer. Focus on externalization and finding unique outcomes. Do not try to "solve" anything — just explore the story.

Knowledge Check

• What is the core premise of narrative coaching?
• What does it mean to externalize a problem? Give an example of internalized vs. externalized language.
• What are unique outcomes, and why are they important in re-authoring?
• Name Drake's four narratives and give a coaching question for each.
• How is narrative coaching different from "positive thinking" or "just telling a different story"?
• A client says: "I am the kind of person who always plays it safe." How would a narrative coach respond?