Coaches: Using the Narrative Coaching Model Through an Intersectional Lens
Traditional narrative coaching often focuses on individual mindset shifts without addressing systemic oppression. An intersectional approach helps clients reframe their stories while acknowledging external barriers, validating lived experiences, and fostering both personal and collective empowerment.
The Narrative Coaching Model helps clients reframe their internal stories, uncover deep-seated beliefs, and shift perspectives to create empowering new narratives. However, traditional approaches often overlook systemic oppression, cultural identity, and the lived experiences of marginalized individuals.
Using the Narrative Model intersectionally means recognizing that:
Personal stories don’t exist in a vacuum—they are shaped by systemic barriers like racism, sexism, ableism, and classism.
Clients may not just have ‘limiting beliefs’—they may have been conditioned to internalize oppression (e.g., imposter syndrome due to exclusion, self-doubt rooted in generational trauma).
Healing requires both rewriting personal narratives and acknowledging external realities—instead of gaslighting people into thinking “it’s just a mindset issue.”
Steps to Apply Narrative Coaching Intersectionally
1. Acknowledge Systemic Context in Storytelling
🚫 Traditional Narrative Coaching: Focuses on shifting personal perceptions (e.g., “What story are you telling yourself about your confidence?”)
✅ Intersectional Approach: Adds awareness of systemic barriers (e.g., “How has your environment shaped the way you see yourself?”).
Example: A Black woman in tech struggling with confidence isn’t just battling imposter syndrome—she may have experienced workplace microaggressions, exclusion from leadership roles, and historical underrepresentation. Instead of only reframing her thoughts, an intersectional approach would: recognize the validity of her experiences, empower her to rewrite her narrative without gaslighting her reality, and encourage advocacy and systemic change, not just self-blame.
2. Challenge Internalized Oppression Without Dismissing It
🚫 Traditional Narrative Coaching: “Let’s replace limiting beliefs with more empowering ones.”
✅ Intersectional Approach: “How have dominant narratives shaped your beliefs about yourself, and how can we deconstruct them?”
Example: A neurodivergent entrepreneur may have absorbed the idea that they must be “more professional” or “less scattered” to succeed in business. Instead of forcing them to adopt neurotypical productivity standards, an intersectional narrative approach helps them see their strengths as valid and powerful (e.g., creativity, hyperfocus, out-of-the-box thinking). It also shifts the focus from “fixing” themselves to adapting the system to work for them and encourages self-acceptance rather than forced assimilation.
3. Expand the Narrative Beyond Individual Resilience
🚫 Traditional Narrative Coaching: Focuses on personal transformation (e.g., “How can you take control of your story?”)
✅ Intersectional Approach: Emphasizes collective and systemic shifts (e.g., “How can you reclaim your story while also pushing for broader change?”).
Example: A trans professional experiencing workplace discrimination may struggle with self-worth. Instead of only reframing their personal narrative, an intersectional coach would acknowledge their lived experience and frustration, affirm that real change also involves external advocacy, community, and policy shifts, and help them craft a narrative that includes both self-empowerment and collective action.
Intersectional Narrative Coaching in Action
First-gen immigrant entrepreneur
🚫 “Let’s shift your scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset.”
✅ “How has financial trauma shaped your fears about money, and how can we build security that honors your background?”
Black woman in leadership
🚫 “You need to own your confidence in the boardroom.”
✅ “How have systemic barriers impacted your confidence, and how can we rewrite your leadership narrative on your own terms?”
Queer creative professional
🚫 “You need to stop fearing rejection.”
✅ “How have dominant narratives around queerness affected your creative expression, and how can we create spaces that embrace your authenticity?”
Disabled employee seeking accommodations
🚫 “Let’s work on self-advocacy skills.”
✅ “How can we craft a narrative that both empowers you and challenges ableist workplace structures?”
Final Thoughts: Why Intersectional Narrative Coaching Matters
It validates lived experiences instead of blaming the individual.
It deconstructs oppressive narratives rather than just replacing them.
It encourages systemic change alongside personal transformation.
It acknowledges that success may be different for different identities.
By using Narrative Coaching intersectionally, you help clients rewrite their story in a way that honors their identity, challenges injustice, and builds a future that is not just individually empowering, but collectively liberating.