Coaching practices for Restorative Circle Storytelling Round

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Restorative Circle Storytelling Round, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

  • Our group rushes straight to “so what do we do about it,” and we’re trying to solve something nobody has actually been allowed to tell their side of yet
  • People show up to our hard conversations still carrying whatever happened ten minutes before
  • Whenever I run one of these conversations I can’t stop myself from jumping in to fix it
  • Every time our group meets, the same two or three loud voices run the whole conversation while the rest go silent, and I can feel the quieter people having things to say that never get the chance to land.
  • I have to bring people into a hard conversation, and I already know everyone’s going to walk in braced for a fight

Practices that may help

  1. Use a storytelling round to build mutual understanding before solving
    Before moving to resolution, give each person a round to tell their experience of what happened.
    The Circle Process (Kay Pranis)
  2. Use check-in and check-out rounds to hold the whole person
    Every circle opens with a personal check-in and closes with a check-out — creating a container with a beginning and an end.
    The Circle Process (Kay Pranis)
  3. The keeper holds process, not content
    The circle keeper’s job is to protect the process — not to facilitate outcomes, give advice, or judge.
    The Circle Process (Kay Pranis)
  4. The Circle Process (Kay Pranis)
    The circle process, developed by Kay Pranis from Indigenous peacemaking traditions, is a structured group conversation that uses a shared centerpiece, a talking piece, and guiding values to create a space where every voice has equal weight. It’s used for conflict resolution, community building, and harm repair. Research on circle use in schools and communities shows improvements in discipline rates, sense of belonging, and conflict outcomes, though rigorous experimental evidence is limited.
  5. Use the talking piece to enforce equal voice
    Only the person holding the talking piece speaks — everyone else listens.
    The Circle Process (Kay Pranis)
  6. Open every circle by naming shared values
    Shared values create the psychological container that makes honest dialogue possible.
    The Circle Process (Kay Pranis)
  7. Design a centerpiece that holds the circle’s purpose
    A shared object at the center of the circle externalizes the group’s collective intention.
    The Circle Process (Kay Pranis)
  8. Share in a small group sharing circle on the same day
    Narrate your experience to others in a structured, non-interpretive circle within hours of the session.
    Holotropic Breathwork, Made Practical
  9. Identifying the turning points that shaped you
    Single out the three to five moments where your trajectory genuinely changed — and examine what you made of them.
    The Life Line Exercise
  10. Therapeutic Letters
    A therapist’s written letter to a client between sessions — documenting alternative-story gains before they fade.
    Narrative Therapy: Rewriting the Stories That Define You

Related concerns

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