What is Narrative Therapy?

Narrative Therapy is a powerful lens for inspecting our work-lives. By viewing the problem as outside of us (“The person is not the problem, the problem is the problem” Michael White), we can find ways to be curious, play and experiment, and maybe even live alongside a work problem while being the kind of person we want to be.

In this video, I explain the metaphor I use, that is inspired by Narrative Therapy, and how narrative therapy career coaching is a transformative space.

Here are some quotes from the video about narrative therapy career coaching:

“I think when we honour that innate knowledge in ourselves, and that we’re not actually something to be broken or fixed – and that we are actually just here experiencing whatever terrain our water is going through – it’s a really freeing space.”

“Traditional ways of figuring out who we want to be and how we want to fit into this world is around going down, drilling down – looking at the patterns of what’s happened, multigenerational patterns. And while some of that can be really useful context, I really love how narrative therapy is actually about looking out towards what we want to be in spite of all of that. Even if our water is flowing through the rockiest, harshest, driest, hottest terrain, how do we want to hold ourselves in that space? What kind of person do we want to bring into that?”

What is mindfulness?

As best explained by Thich Nhat Hanh, mindfulness is a kind of energy that we generate when we bring our mind back to our body and get in touch with what is going on in the present moment, within us and around us.

How is this work grounded in corporate reality?

This is all grounded in the realities of organisational life and the systems we live in, because all of the practices within Pulang Studio come from the experience of a People & Culture leader who has truly seen behind the corporate curtain. We’re going to keep it real together: there’s no magic phrase to fix an unreasonable workload, and you’ve still got bills to pay.

Why this different approach?

Traditional career coaching often feels awful because it is usually built on the industrial paradigm of the 20th century – a model that assumes the world is stable, progress is linear, and the “problem” always lies within the individual’s lack of efficiency or grit. If you feel the “ick” with traditional coaching, it’s likely because you are in a Highly Resonant Body and sensed the misalignment between their lean-in solutions and your reality.

Narrative therapy career coaching and reflective practice moves from the traditional career coaching model, and into spaces that open us up to kindness, compassion and internal transformation. By also grounding it in mindfulness and the reality of working in a corporation, the work is impactful and focuses on what we actually have control over – our internal experience!