Narrative coaching

1. Introduction

Version followed: David B. Drake's four-phase narrative coaching model (Situate, Search, Shift, Sustain), as named in his chapter "Narrative coaching" in The Coaches' Handbook (Routledge, 2020) and in Narrative Coaching: The Definitive Guide to Bringing New Stories to Life (2nd ed., CNC Press, 2017; 1st ed. 2015, subtitled Bringing Our New Stories to Life). The full text of the books and chapter is not drawn on here. Phase content is rebuilt from the chapter abstract, an interview with Drake, publisher and Institute of Coaching descriptions, and a review that lists the book's principles [uncertain: anything Drake gives in the full text but not in these sources is missing here].

Narrative coaching is a coaching model, not a psychotherapy. It was developed by David Drake, who founded the Center for Narrative Coaching & Design and is described as the founder of the field [source: Institute of Coaching, Drake profile]. The idea is that the stories people tell about themselves and their work carry both their difficulties and the clues to resolving them. The coach acts as a mirror and witness so that the client can notice the story that holds them back and step into a new one [source: Stephenson interview with Drake]. Drake describes the approach as mindful, experiential and holistic. Its aim is for people to rework their stories so they can see new options and get new results [source: Drake 2020 chapter abstract].

Change is meant to happen in real time, in the session, through experiences rather than explanations. It is then sustained through small experiments in daily life [source: Stephenson interview; book review listing the principles]. Drake rests the approach on four "pillars" [source: University of Copenhagen lecture page, 2011]:

social constructionism (narrative philosophy)
attachment theory (narrative psychology)
mythology (narrative structure)
rites of passage (narrative practice)

The 2nd edition is described as expanding the material on attachment theory, applied mindfulness and design thinking, and as including cases of coaching without goals [source: Institute of Coaching book summary].

For a psychotherapist, this is a coaching frame. Use it under a coaching contract with well-functioning clients, or borrow its stance and tools inside therapy with your usual clinical safeguards. It is not an alternative treatment for a mental disorder [synthesis]. Drake himself holds that "all coaching is therapeutic at some level" [source: Stephenson interview]. That claim is his view, not a boundary rule. Section 5 gives the boundary as the coaching bodies publish it.

Do not confuse this model with White and Epston's narrative therapy. Both work with stories, but Drake's model is a separate coaching framework with its own phases and tools [synthesis; how Drake relates the two is uncertain].

2. Framework

Overall shape. The model has four phases: Situate → Search → Shift → Sustain [source: Drake 2020 chapter abstract; Hunt 2023 abstract]. In the book they are drawn as four quadrants with a spiral at the centre, to show that the work is dynamic and circles back rather than running in a straight line [source: book review]. Drake also calls this the "Narrative Spiral": a frame for drawing on research, evidence and the coach's own experience across the four pillars [source: Copenhagen lecture page].

Format.

Used with individuals and with groups [source: Drake 2020 chapter abstract].
Most of the change work happens inside the session, framed as "serious play", rather than as homework [source: Whitmire interview with Drake].
Between sessions the client runs small experiments, with brief check-ins to capture what they noticed and learned [source: Stephenson interview].
Typical session count and length: not stated in the published sources [uncertain]. If you need a working default for contracting: an exploratory first session, then roughly 4–8 sessions at intervals of 2–4 weeks, reviewed at the midpoint [synthesis].

Goals. Drake's model does not set outcomes or goals at the start of a session, because clients often do not yet know what they want [source: Stephenson interview]. The 2nd edition includes cases of coaching without goals [source: Institute of Coaching book summary]. In practice, the contract can still agree a broad area of focus, while the session itself starts from the story the client brings [synthesis].

Phase 1: Situate

Goal: meet the client as they are now and witness the person in front of you. Invite their present emotion into the room rather than trying to fix it [source: Stephenson interview]. Drake says the first order of business is to "witness the human in front of us" (paraphrase of a quoted interview line).
Coach's focus: the relationship first, in a Rogerian spirit; presence to "what actually is"; the client's everyday words rather than coaching or psychological language [source: Stephenson interview].
Move on when: the client has told the story they came with and feels heard, and something charged or repeating in it is coming into view [synthesis; Drake's own transition criteria are uncertain].

Phase 2: Search

Goal: inquire into the story rather than about it, to find what is really at stake [source: book review on Drake's chapters about listening to and inquiring into stories]. Drake's guiding question is "what is the essential dialogue here?" [source: Stephenson interview]. Placing this question in the Search phase is [synthesis].
Coach's focus: working with the narrative elements already present in the field, such as characters, recurring phrases, images and positions in the story. Silence. Staying outside the story to avoid collusion [source: book review principles; Stephenson interview].
Move on when: a core tension, a dialogue or an old story is named in the client's own words, and the client is curious about it or emotionally engaged with it [synthesis].

Phase 3: Shift

Goal: a felt, in-session experience of relating to the story differently. Drake describes creating a visceral experience of the change within the session [source: Stephenson interview]. His Narrative Pivot tool often takes shape in this phase [source: Drake 2020 chapter abstract].
Coach's focus: generating experiences rather than explanations; standing with the client at the threshold as a new story emerges [source: book review principles].
Move on when: the client can say or show what is different now (a new line, a new stance, a new choice) and wants to try it out [synthesis].

Phase 4: Sustain

Goal: take the new story into life through small experiments that can be built on over time. Use check-ins between sessions to capture reflection and learning [source: Stephenson interview]. Support from significant others can be part of this scaffolding [source: Stephenson interview].
End or re-cycle when: the new story is holding in the contexts that matter, or a new theme emerges and the spiral starts again at Situate [synthesis].

Using the phases. Drake recommends holding models lightly and letting the client's natural storytelling guide the session instead of imposing a process [source: Stephenson interview]. Treat the phases as orientation, not a script. A single session may move through all four, or stay in one [synthesis].

3. Guiding principles

The book lists six principles. They are given here as worded in a review of the book [source: book review]; the practical meanings are [synthesis].

Trust that everything you need is right in front of you. Work with what the client brings and how they bring it today. Do not go looking for a hidden cause.
Be fully present to what is, without judgement. Notice tone, body, energy and repeated words. Hold back interpretation.
Speak only when you can improve on silence. Let pauses run. Speak less than the client.
Focus on generating experiences, not explanations. Prefer trying a line aloud, shifting position or re-entering a moment over analysing why.
Work directly with the narrative elements in the field. Use the client's own characters, images and phrases as the material of the session.
Stand at the threshold when a new story is emerging. Slow down, support the client at the edge of the new story, and do not rush them across it.

Further principles from Drake's interview and abstracts:

Relationship first. Being seen and heard does more than technique. Drake says the relational quality is "far more powerful" [source: Stephenson interview]. In practice, protect rapport before any tool.
No goals at the top of the session [source: Stephenson interview]. Let the focus emerge from the story. Contract for an area, not a target.
Stay out of the story. Keep empathy without sympathy or collusion [source: Stephenson interview]. Do not take sides with the characters in the client's story.
Hold models lightly and playfully [source: Stephenson interview]. Drop the framework the moment it gets between you and the client.
Use everyday language, "not coaching language or psychological speak" [source: Stephenson interview]. Reflect the client's words back, not jargon.
Trust the client to manage their emotions and find their own way [source: Stephenson interview]. Do not rescue. Check that the client is safe, then follow their lead (the safety check is [synthesis]).
Scaffolding. Support the client to the edge of their ability and one step beyond, with the coach or significant others [source: Stephenson interview]. Size experiments just past comfort.
Reflexivity and context. The approach emphasises the coach's reflexivity, research and professional experience, and awareness of the client's social and work context [source: Drake 2020 chapter abstract]. Ask whose story this is: the client's, the team's or the organisation's.
Change in the moment, through serious play [source: Whitmire interview]. Rehearse in the session rather than assigning homework.

4. Intervention inventory

All example language is illustrative wording, not Drake's text. Where Drake names a tool whose steps are not published openly (the Narrative Pivot and the Narrative Rewind Process), this section says so and does not make up its steps. The items run roughly in phase order.

4.1 Contracting and framing the work (pre-Situate)

Purpose / when: at intake, before any story work. Sets the coaching scope, confidentiality and its limits, and the referral route [source: ICF, Hullinger & DiGirolamo 2018, citing ICF Code of Ethics 3.18 and 3.23]. Also explains that sessions start from the client's stories rather than preset goals [source: Stephenson interview; the framing is synthesis].
Steps:
1. Agree the area of focus (for example a role transition or a recurring conflict), not a measurable target.
2. State in writing that coaching is not therapy, and that you will suggest other support if that seems needed [source: ICF 2018].
3. Explain the limits of confidentiality.
4. Describe the method: we start from what you bring, work with your stories in the session, and try small experiments between sessions.
5. Screen briefly for current mental-health treatment, and for distress that is disrupting daily functioning (see 5.8) [synthesis, informed by ICF 2018].
6. Keep your referral list to hand [source: ICF 2018].
Example language (illustrative): "We won't set a goal at the start of each session. We'll start from what's alive for you that day and see what story is running. If something comes up that would be better served by therapy or medical care, I'll say so, and we'll talk about it together."
Watch for: a client who is seeking treatment for a condition. If you are a psychotherapist, be careful not to blur a coaching contract with a therapy relationship with the same person [synthesis].

4.2 Witnessing the person (Situate)

Purpose / when: the opening of every session. Makes the client feel seen and heard, which Drake treats as more powerful than technique [source: Stephenson interview].
Steps:
1. Arrive settled. Drop your agenda and attend to "what actually is" [source: Stephenson interview].
2. Open with a broad invitation, then let the client talk without steering.
3. Reflect back briefly, in the client's own words.
4. Notice how the story is told (pace, energy, body, where the client gets animated or goes flat) as well as what is told [synthesis].
Example language (illustrative): "Where would you like to begin today?" / "Say a bit more about that." / "You said 'again' twice just now."
Watch for: the urge to fix or problem-solve early. Drake's interviewer reports that Situate was hard for exactly that reason [source: Stephenson interview]. It is working when the client slows down, adds detail and starts to reflect on their own telling.

4.3 Inviting present emotion into the space (Situate)

Purpose / when: when emotion shows while the client tells their story. Drake's Situate phase invites the client's current emotion rather than managing it away, and trusts the client to handle it [source: Stephenson interview].
Steps:
1. Name what you see, without interpreting it.
2. Make room: pause and ask permission to stay with it.
3. Let the client lead how far to go.
4. Check that the client is back to steady before moving on (the check is [synthesis]).
Example language (illustrative): "Something shifted as you said that. Can we stay with it for a moment?" / "What's here right now?"
Watch for: emotion that escalates rather than settles, dissociation, or crying with no movement over repeated sessions. These are signals to review the coaching frame, not to go deeper (see 5.3 and 5.8) [synthesis; ICF 2018 lists continuous emotional processing without movement as a referral trigger].

4.4 Starting without goals: letting the story set the agenda (Situate → Search)

Purpose / when: every session, especially when the client is unsure what they want. Drake does not set outcomes or goals at the top of the session [source: Stephenson interview].
Steps:
1. Skip the goal question.
2. Follow the first story the client tells.
3. Ask for a specific recent instance rather than a summary.
4. Let a focus emerge from what keeps returning. Name it tentatively, and confirm it with the client before working on it [steps 3–4 synthesis].
Example language (illustrative): "Take me to a specific moment when this happened recently." / "From what you've told me, the thread that keeps coming back seems to be X. Is that the one to work with?"
Watch for: sponsors or clients who need an explicit goal. You can hold an organisational objective in the contract while keeping each session open [synthesis]. Whitmire notes that the approach suits clients comfortable with inner experience and metaphor more than those who prefer rigid goal-setting [source: Whitmire interview].

4.5 Listening for the "essential dialogue" (Search)

Purpose / when: once the story is on the table. Drake's question is "what is the essential dialogue here?" [source: Stephenson interview]. It locates the core tension or conversation at the heart of the story, inside the client, with others, or both.
Steps [synthesis built on Drake's question]:
1. Hold the question silently as you listen.
2. Listen for opposing voices, shoulds and wants, and lines the client attributes to other people.
3. Offer a short, tentative reflection of the two sides.
4. Let the client correct or refine it.
Example language (illustrative): "It sounds like one part of you is saying 'stay safe' and another is saying 'it's time.' Is that the conversation?"
Watch for: imposing your own reading. It is working when the client's language sharpens, or they say "yes, that's it" with visible energy.

4.6 Inquiring into the story rather than about it (Search)

Purpose / when: deepening the work. The book's chapters on holding space, listening to stories and inquiring into stories mark a shift from asking about a story to inquiring into it [source: book review]. Drake's exact procedure is [uncertain].
Steps [synthesis]:
1. Ask questions that take the client back inside the moment (what they saw, heard, said and felt) rather than questions that analyse it.
2. Slow the telling down at the key point.
3. Use the client's own images.
Example language (illustrative): "As you stand in that meeting room again, what do you notice?" rather than "Why do you think you reacted like that?"
Watch for: retraumatising detail when the story involves trauma. Stay in the present-day impact, and do not go into the memory itself (see 5.3) [synthesis].

4.7 Working with narrative elements in the field (Search → Shift)

Purpose / when: when characters, roles, recurring phrases or images appear in the story. This is one of Drake's six principles [source: book review]. The book also discusses the characters in a narrative and "shadow selves" [source: book review]. Drake's detailed procedures are [uncertain].
Steps [synthesis]:
1. Name the elements the client has used ("the critic", "the good soldier", "a wall").
2. Ask about each in the client's terms: what it wants, when it shows up, and what it says.
3. Let the client notice which elements they are over-identified with and which they have disowned.
Example language (illustrative): "You've called that part of you 'the good soldier' twice. What does the good soldier want for you?"
Watch for: reifying a character into a diagnosis or a fixed identity. Keep the elements as the client's metaphors [synthesis].

4.8 Purposeful silence (all phases)

Purpose / when: throughout. Drake's principle is to speak only when you can improve on silence [source: book review; Stephenson interview].
Steps:
1. After the client finishes, wait.
2. Count a few breaths before responding.
3. Speak only when what you have to say adds more than the space does [synthesis].
Example language (illustrative): (silence), or simply "Take your time."
Watch for: silence that feels punitive or leaves an anxious client alone. Signs that it is working: the client adds a second, deeper layer after the pause [synthesis].

4.9 Mirroring in everyday language (all phases)

Purpose / when: throughout. Drake works in plain language, "not coaching language or psychological speak", and acts as a mirror so the client finds their own answers [source: Stephenson interview].
Steps:
1. Reflect back using the client's own key words.
2. Avoid technical labels such as "limiting belief", "schema" or "attachment style" with the client [example labels are synthesis].
Example language (illustrative): "So when the email came in, the old 'I'm about to be found out' story started up."
Watch for: your own theory leaking into reflections.

4.10 Reconstructing a trigger story (Search → Shift)

Purpose / when: when the client brings a specific reactive episode. This sequence comes from Alison Whitmire's account of Drake's approach; it is her summary, and whether it matches Drake's own text is [uncertain] [source: Whitmire interview]. It runs: name the issue, elaborate the story to its root, then use guiding questions to build the original story and form a new one.
Steps (paraphrasing Whitmire's question set):
1. What set off the reaction.
2. What the client was telling themselves in that moment.
3. How they responded.
4. What they wish they had done.
5. How the story could be retold to reach a different outcome.
Example language (illustrative): "What were you telling yourself right before you snapped?" / "If you retold this from the moment the email landed, what's different?"
Watch for: this can slide into a cognitive-restructuring exercise that runs against Drake's "experiences, not explanations". Follow the retelling with 4.12 (an in-session experiment) [synthesis].

4.11 Narrative Pivot (Shift) and Narrative Rewind Process

Purpose / when: Drake names these as two core tools. The Narrative Pivot often takes shape in the Shift phase [source: Drake 2020 chapter abstract].
Steps: not published openly [uncertain]. The procedures are in Drake's 2020 chapter and his book. Do not run an improvised exercise under these names. Read the chapter or train with the Center for Narrative Coaching & Design first.
Generic alternative, not Drake's tool [synthesis]: when a client reaches a turning point, ask them to say the new position in one sentence, in their own words. Then ask what they would do differently tomorrow because of it.
Watch for: do not attribute any wording to Drake's tools that you have not read in his text.

4.12 In-session experiments: "serious play" (Shift)

Purpose / when: to make the change felt, not just understood. Drake creates a visceral experience of the change inside the session [source: Stephenson interview]. He calls in-session work, as opposed to homework, "serious play" [source: Whitmire interview]. It follows the principle "experiences, not explanations" [source: book review].
Steps [synthesis on these principles]:
1. Choose one small enactment linked to the new story, such as saying a new sentence aloud to the imagined person, standing or sitting as the new stance, or replaying the opening line of a hard conversation.
2. Get consent before you start.
3. Run it briefly.
4. Ask what the client noticed in their body and voice.
5. Adjust and repeat once.
Example language (illustrative): "Would you be willing to try saying that to her now, as if she were in the chair? Just the first sentence."
Watch for: performance anxiety and over-exposure. Keep it small and optional. It is working when the client's voice, posture or energy changes, and they can describe the difference.

4.13 Standing at the threshold (Shift)

Purpose / when: as a new story emerges and the client hesitates between the old and the new. This is one of the six principles [source: book review]. It draws on Drake's rites-of-passage pillar [source: Copenhagen lecture page]. The book treats rites of passage as a metaphor for what clients need at key thresholds [source: book review].
Steps [synthesis]:
1. Name the threshold.
2. Acknowledge what is being left behind.
3. Do not push the client across.
4. Ask what they need to take the next step, and from whom.
Example language (illustrative): "It sounds like you're standing in a doorway. The old way isn't working, and the new one isn't yours yet. What would help you take one step through?"
Watch for: grief over the old identity. Where that grief is disabling or prolonged, consider referral (5.8).

4.14 Small experiments between sessions with brief check-ins (Sustain)

Purpose / when: at the end of a session, and between sessions. The client tries something small outside the session that they can build on over time, and brief check-ins capture reflection and learning [source: Stephenson interview].
Steps:
1. Co-design one experiment that is small, specific and within the client's control.
2. Agree how the client will notice what happens.
3. Agree a short check-in format (a message or a brief call).
4. Open the next session with what they learned, not with whether they "succeeded". (Steps 1–4 are [synthesis] on Drake's description.)
Example language (illustrative): "What's one small thing you could try this week that the new story would do? How will you notice what happens?"
Watch for: experiments that turn into performance targets. Treat a "failed" experiment as data [synthesis].

4.15 Scaffolding with the coach and significant others (Sustain)

Purpose / when: when the next step is just beyond what the client can do alone. Drake supports the client to the edge of their ability and one step beyond, with help from the coach or significant others [source: Stephenson interview].
Steps [synthesis]:
1. Identify who in the client's life could support the new story.
2. Decide what the client will ask of them.
3. Rehearse that request in the session (4.12).
Example language (illustrative): "Who would notice and back you if you started showing up this way?"
Watch for: over-reliance on the coach. Increasingly hand the support over to the client's own network.

4.16 Group and team application

Purpose / when: the approach has been used with individuals and groups [source: Drake 2020 chapter abstract]. The 2nd edition extends to collective narratives and teams [source: Institute of Coaching book summary]. Drake's group procedures are [uncertain].
Steps [synthesis]:
1. Have members tell short stories on a shared theme.
2. Listen together for the collective "essential dialogue".
3. Agree one small shared experiment.
Watch for: disclosure pressure in work groups, and confidentiality across hierarchy.

5. Handling problems

The published Drake sources say little about problems. Items 5.1–5.6 are mainly [synthesis] built on Drake's principles. Items 5.7–5.10 follow the ICF referral guidelines [source: ICF, Hullinger & DiGirolamo 2018] unless marked otherwise.

5.1 Stuck client: the same story every session

First, slow down and go more specific. Ask for one recent moment instead of the general pattern (4.4, 4.6). Then ask about the "essential dialogue" directly (4.5) [synthesis].
Name the loop gently: "We've come back to this story four times. What do you make of that?" (illustrative).
Move from talking to doing. Try one small in-session experiment (4.12) instead of more explanation, in line with Drake's "experiences, not explanations" [source: book review; application synthesis].
If there is still no movement after a reasonable time, and an underlying issue seems to be blocking progress, ICF lists this as a referral trigger [source: ICF 2018].

5.2 Resistance: "Just give me a goal and an action plan"

Whitmire notes that the approach suits people at ease with inner experience and metaphor, and is harder for those who prefer rigid goal-setting [source: Whitmire interview].
Respect the preference. Agree a concrete objective in the contract, then use the story only as a route to it, for example: "Tell me about the last time you tried to get there." (illustrative) [synthesis].
If the mismatch persists, offer a more structured coaching model, or refer to another coach [synthesis].

5.3 Overwhelm, flooding or dissociation while telling a story

Stop going deeper. Bring the client into the present: slow your voice, orient them to the room, encourage feet on the floor and slower breathing, and use present-tense questions about now [synthesis].
Do not use "inquire into" or re-enactment techniques (4.6, 4.12) on traumatic memories within a coaching contract. Narrative coaching is not a trauma-processing method. Treat what the client recalls as their experience, not as facts to dig up [synthesis].
Once the client is settled, check how they are and close the session gently. Decide whether this fits the coaching frame. ICF lists ongoing trauma effects and continual emotional processing without movement as referral indicators [source: ICF 2018].
If you are a licensed therapist, do not switch into trauma therapy mid-session under a coaching contract. Recontract explicitly, or refer [synthesis].

5.4 Non-adherence: experiments not done

Treat it as data about the story, not as failure. Ask what got in the way and what story was running when the client chose not to do it [synthesis].
Make the next experiment smaller and closer to the session. Rehearse it in the session first (4.12), and line up support from others (4.15) [synthesis; scaffolding source: Stephenson interview].

5.5 Ruptures and collusion

Collusion: the coach gets pulled into the client's story, for example agreeing that the boss is the villain. Drake advises staying out of the story, with empathy but without sympathy or collusion [source: Stephenson interview]. Repair by returning to the client's own part and choices: "I notice I've been agreeing with you about him. What's your part in this story?" (illustrative) [synthesis].
Rupture: the client feels judged or misread. Drake gives the relationship first priority [source: Stephenson interview]. Name the miss, take responsibility for it, and ask what would help [synthesis].
Over-interpretation: the coach's metaphor replaces the client's. Go back to the client's own words (4.9).

5.6 Difficulties specific to this model

No-goals frame versus sponsor expectations in organisational coaching. Hold objectives in a three-way contract and keep each session open. Report progress as observable changes in stories and actions [synthesis].
Psychotherapists using the model.
- Keep coaching and therapy contracts with the same client distinct.
- Do not use your clinical training to diagnose a coaching client informally. ICF's guidelines say coaches do not diagnose or treat [source: ICF 2018].
- Where both roles exist, agree in writing which one is in effect [synthesis].
Drake's view that coaching is "therapeutic at some level" [source: Stephenson interview] can lead coaches to go deeper than the contract allows. "Therapeutic" in his sense is not a licence to treat [synthesis].
Tools you have not been trained in (Narrative Pivot, Narrative Rewind Process). Do not improvise them under those names (4.11).

5.7 The coaching–psychotherapy boundary as the coaching bodies and Drake state it

ICF [source: ICF 2018 guidelines]:
- Coaching is a thought-provoking, creative partnership focused on goals, vision and future action, usually aimed at performance, learning or development, with generally well-functioning people.
- Psychotherapy applies clinical methods. It more often examines psychopathology, emotions and the past, and addresses deep-seated emotional issues, healing or trauma recovery, with people experiencing some degree of dysfunction or disorder.
- Coaches do not diagnose or treat. They refer when a need exceeds their qualifications or the coaching agreement.
- The guidelines treat mental health as a spectrum: a client can function well in one area and poorly in another. They use the analogy of an athletic trainer who refers to the team doctor when an injury is suspected.
- Contracts should state that coaching is not therapy (citing ICF Code of Ethics 3.18 and 3.23).
EMCC and AC: both are bound by the Global Code of Ethics for coaches, mentors and supervisors. AC and EMCC created it in February 2016. Version 4 was completed in late 2025, with 11 signatory bodies [source: EMCC Global Code of Ethics page]. The Code's values section says members respect the limits of their work, which is not counselling, psychotherapy or medical intervention. Members work only within their professional competence and refer the client to a more experienced or suitably qualified practitioner where appropriate; they encourage a client to end the engagement when a different form of professional help would serve them better; they say at the start when confidentiality cannot be kept, including danger to self or others; and they take ethical dilemmas to supervision [source: Global Code of Ethics V4, December 2025, EMCC France copy]. The Code sets out no procedure for assessing mental-health concerns. Check the current Code at globalcodeofethics.org before relying on specific wording.
Drake: in his published interview, Drake describes all coaching as therapeutic at some level, because it involves restoring the person and not only reaching what they want. He does not set out a firm boundary rule there [source: Stephenson interview]. Any explicit boundary or referral guidance in his book is [uncertain].
Practical line for this model [synthesis]: narrative coaching works with present stories that shape current choices in someone who is functioning well enough. Once a story is mainly about symptoms, trauma memories or impaired functioning, it belongs in clinical care.

5.8 Concrete signs that a coachee needs referral to clinical care

All items below are from ICF 2018, paraphrased.

Primary test: the issue interferes with daily functioning (self-care, work, home, leisure or social life) for weeks. Weigh how long it lasts, how often it occurs and how intense it is.
Process signs in coaching:
- no progress after a reasonable time because of an underlying issue
- recurring past issues, feeling stuck, repeatedly presenting as a victim, or ongoing effects of trauma
- continual emotional processing in sessions, with no insight or movement towards action
- self-defeating behaviour that blocks change
- in the coach: feeling responsible for the client, pressure to fix them, anxiety before sessions, or a sense that the client is over-dependent
General distress signs (look for clusters and persistence, not single signs):
- marked changes in mood (irritability, anger, anxiety, sadness)
- falling performance at work or study
- withdrawal from people and activities
- changes in weight, appearance or hygiene
- sleeping much more or much less
Condition-specific indicators:
- Anxiety: persistent excessive worry with physical tension and poor sleep.
- Depression: two weeks or more of pervasive low mood or loss of interest, worthlessness or guilt, recurrent thoughts of death.
- Eating difficulties: persistent extreme behaviour around food or weight.
- Trauma: intrusions, nightmares, avoidance or hypervigilance lasting a month or more after an event.
- Substance use: loss of control, neglect of obligations, hiding use, withdrawal symptoms.
- Psychosis-type signs: paranoia, delusions, hallucinations, incoherent thinking.
- Suicidal ideation: hopelessness, talk of having no reason to live, giving possessions away, withdrawal, reckless behaviour. Any risk triggers emergency procedures.

5.9 How to refer

Steps are from ICF 2018, paraphrased; the wording is illustrative.

Meet privately, unhurried.
Express care calmly and without judgement.
Describe specific changes you have observed, not labels.
Ask open questions, listen, and allow silence.
Ask how the client feels about seeing a therapist. Normalise it and address stigma.
Offer concrete names. You can help book an appointment in the session.
Keep the door open, and expect to raise it more than once.
Example language (illustrative): "Over the last few sessions I've noticed you've mentioned barely sleeping and missing work. I care about how you're doing, and I think talking to a therapist or your doctor could help with this in a way coaching can't. How does that sound to you?"
Afterwards:
- If the client declines, respect that, and raise it again if the issue recurs.
- Decide, with reference to the contract, whether coaching can continue alongside treatment.
- Pause coaching if the client cannot benefit from it until the issue is addressed.
- Follow progress while respecting privacy.

5.10 Emergencies

With imminent risk of harm to self or others, contact local emergency services and stay with the person until help arrives [source: ICF 2018].
If you are a licensed clinician, apply your standard suicide risk-assessment and safety-planning procedures and your duty-to-protect obligations. Lethal-means counselling covers safe storage and removal only. Document what you did [synthesis].

Sources

Pages used

Books and chapters cited

Drake, D. B. (2015). Narrative Coaching: Bringing Our New Stories to Life. CNC Press.
Drake, D. B. (2017). Narrative Coaching: The Definitive Guide to Bringing New Stories to Life (2nd ed.). CNC Press.
Drake, D. B. (2020). Narrative coaching. In The Coaches' Handbook. Routledge.
Hullinger, A. M., & DiGirolamo, J. A. (2018). Referring a Client to Therapy: A Set of Guidelines. International Coaching Federation. (Full citation for the ICF guide listed above.)
Hunt, N. (2023). Narrative coaching. In Applied Narrative Psychology. Cambridge University Press.

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