Coaching practices for Narrative Identity Theory
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Narrative Identity Theory, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- I say "I’m someone who never quits," but my history is full of things I walked away from, and that gap between who I claim to be and what I’ve actually done sits in me as a low hum of unease I can’t quite name.
- I’ve spotted a few moments where I was braver than my usual story says, but they feel like isolated flukes
- I can recount exactly what happened
- The new way I’m trying to see myself only seems to hold when I’m alone with it
- There’s a story I tell about my past
Practices that may help
- Narrative Identity, Made Practical
Dan McAdams’ narrative identity theory holds that identity itself is a personal myth — an internalized, evolving story that integrates your past, present, and imagined future into a coherent sense of self. The structure and tone of that story (whether it moves toward redemption or contamination, agency or communion) predicts psychological well-being, and the story can be deliberately revised. Evidence is primarily observational but robustly consistent. - Test your story for coherence and credibility
Identify the parts of your self-narrative that are contradictory or no longer true.
Narrative Identity, Made Practical - Re-Authoring the Alternative Story
Build a preferred story of identity by thickening the exceptions into a narrative with a plot.
Narrative Therapy: Rewriting the Stories That Define You - Landscape of Identity and Action Questions
Use two question types to map both what the person DID (action) and what that reveals about who they ARE (identity).
Narrative Therapy: Rewriting the Stories That Define You - Definitional Ceremonies and Outsider Witnesses
Invite meaningful others to witness and retell the new story — being known differently by others consolidates the new identity.
Narrative Therapy: Rewriting the Stories That Define You - Revise your life narrative when it limits you
Identify and reauthor the story you tell about your past that constrains what you believe is possible.
The Life Crafting Intervention: Scripting Your Future Self - Narrative Therapy: Rewriting the Stories That Define You
Narrative therapy, developed by Michael White and David Epston, holds that people live by stories — about who they are, what they’re capable of, and what their experiences mean. By separating the person from the problem ("the person is not the problem; the problem is the problem") and finding "unique outcomes" that contradict a limiting story, therapy opens space to author a more empowering alternative. The evidence base is growing but smaller and less methodologically uniform than CBT. - Map your life in chapters
Divide your life into named chapters to see the arc you’ve been living.
Narrative Identity, Made Practical - Write a brief narrative of your season to make it coherent
People who can tell a coherent story about their life stage navigate it more effectively than those who cannot.
Seasons of Life - Balance agency and communion themes in your story
Check whether your life narrative is weighted toward self-expansion (agency) or connection (communion).
Narrative Identity, Made Practical
Related concerns
- Narrative Identity At Work
Dan McAdams’ narrative identity theory holds that identity itself is a personal myth — an internalized, evolving story that integrates your past, present, and imagined future into a coherent sense of self. The structure and tone of that story (whether it moves toward redemption or contamination, agency or communion) predicts psychological well-being, and the story can be deliberately revised. Evidence is primarily observational but robustly consistent.
- Narrative Identity For My Teenager
Dan McAdams’ narrative identity theory holds that identity itself is a personal myth — an internalized, evolving story that integrates your past, present, and imagined future into a coherent sense of self. The structure and tone of that story (whether it moves toward redemption or contamination, agency or communion) predicts psychological well-being, and the story can be deliberately revised. Evidence is primarily observational but robustly consistent.
- Narrative Identity On A Budget
Dan McAdams’ narrative identity theory holds that identity itself is a personal myth — an internalized, evolving story that integrates your past, present, and imagined future into a coherent sense of self. The structure and tone of that story (whether it moves toward redemption or contamination, agency or communion) predicts psychological well-being, and the story can be deliberately revised. Evidence is primarily observational but robustly consistent.
- Narrative Identity Purpose
Dan McAdams’ narrative identity theory holds that identity itself is a personal myth — an internalized, evolving story that integrates your past, present, and imagined future into a coherent sense of self. The structure and tone of that story (whether it moves toward redemption or contamination, agency or communion) predicts psychological well-being, and the story can be deliberately revised. Evidence is primarily observational but robustly consistent.
- Narrative Identity Reflection
Dan McAdams’ narrative identity theory holds that identity itself is a personal myth — an internalized, evolving story that integrates your past, present, and imagined future into a coherent sense of self. The structure and tone of that story (whether it moves toward redemption or contamination, agency or communion) predicts psychological well-being, and the story can be deliberately revised. Evidence is primarily observational but robustly consistent.
- Narrative Identity When Burned Out
Identify the parts of your self-narrative that are contradictory or no longer true.
Test your story for coherence and credibility
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