A narrative approach to coaching multiple selves

Authors

Paul Lawrence, University of WollongongFollow

RIS ID

132427

Publication Details

Lawrence, P. (2018). A narrative approach to coaching multiple selves. International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring, 16 (2), 32-41.

Abstract

According to many philosophers and psychologists, we are each not one, but many. The origins of multiplicity theories are briefly outlined before several contemporary theories are described in more detail. In this conceptual paper, it is argued that a multiplicity perspective of self, challenges us to think differently about coaching. Six specific implications are considered, and a pragmatic link between multiplicity theory and post-modernist principles explored. It is argued that a narrative approach to coaching may be particularly useful for the coach interested in experimenting with multiplicity theory, and some initial approaches to applying multiplicity theory in practice are suggested.