Narrative Conflict Coaching

Abstract

KeywordsConflict coaching, conflict resolution, narrative, care of the self, event, chronos, aion, counter story Conflict coaching is a relatively new concept, derived from the domain of executive coaching. The concept has gained a foothold in the conflict resolution literature. There have been references made to a narrative practice of conflict coaching but it has not been articulated as fully as it might be. Here we seek to describe such a practice in relation to Foucault's concept of the care of the self and Deleuze's concept of the event.We also outline Deleuze's approach to the reading of time as chronos and aion and show how these different readings might be put to use. A set of guidelines for narrative conflict coaching are proposed and transcribed conversation is provided as a case study to illustrate the process in action. In this conversation, the conflict coach asks questions which lead the client through an exploration of the series of events that make up the conflict story, the externalizing and deconstructing of this conflict story, and the opening of a counter story as a basis for the client's preferred future conduct in relation to the conflict.

State of Knowledge: Conflict Coaching Theory, Application, and Research

“…Keel () wrote a master's thesis arguing for the merits of using Buddhist mindfulness meditation to support conflict coaches as well as the clients of conflict coaching. Winslade and Pangborn () pointed out the potential value of a narrative approach to conflict coaching even when an individual has no intention of interacting with another party. Also, they proposed a deeper theoretical anchoring of such an approach by connecting it with the poststructuralist work of Foucault (Martin, Gutman, and Hutton ) and Deleuze ().…”