Storytelling has a profound impact on our lives.  As women sharing our narratives, our digestible wisdom, and our experiences, we are weaving deep understanding, more compassion, and a compatible connection to those who are fortunate to hear our story.

The other day I sat across from a long-time friend. We shared revolutionary secrets that we have both been afraid to let loose. There was an infinite loop of care and sensibility.  No comparison, no envy, no story better or worse than the other. It was only an integrated intersection of meeting our hearts from pain to purpose and conflict to connection. 

Our sense of belonging is orchestrated when we share our stories as an act of love interwoven into the consciousness of humankind.

As more and more people are awakening to generational trauma and the ancestral shadow that has carved its imprint into our psyche, there have been two different approaches that offer those in hidden pain and hurt a way through. Archetypal coaching and Internal Family Systems (IFS) are two ways to help those suffering from the forbidden imprint of a long time ago and once upon a time.

Archetypal coaching focuses on identifying and working with archetypes – universal patterns of behavior or universal symbols that exist in our collective consciousness or the unconscious – so to help the individual integrate these aspects into daily life.

Internal Family System (IFS) is a therapeutic approach that focuses on understanding and healing the different parts of an individual’s internal system to bring more self-awareness and aid in healing the parts that feel less than optimal.

While both seem to bring a way of remembering the self before or in addition to the less-than-fulfilling interactions and relationships from one’s early family imprints, there are some distinct differences.

Archetypal coaching uses dream analysis, active imagination, and storytelling as modes for creating an archetypal profile that can be integrated into the individual’s daily choice-making, and personal growth, while also serving as a cornerstone for overcoming challenges. Each person begins to deeply understand the impact of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors as representations of creative expression. Integration of this notion of multiplicity – an unlimited unconscious fortitude of characters encapsulating your personal story – can enable the individual to freely connect to an inner community and find purpose beyond the conditioning. Archetypal coaching makes it relevant that while we have many similarities, we also have unique meanings and purposes for who we are. It liberates the strong need for the adventurous quest of “Who am I?” to actually offer a resolution. 

Who are you?

Whomever you wish to be.

Think of this inner dialogue as bringing into energetic frequency all ways you wish to be and into a vibrational underbelly however you believe is the best to express the true essence of who you are.

Internal Family Systems (IFS) as a therapy model uses this notion as a cast of characters (Parts Work, pg. 7) to engage in understanding as to the role they play in the initial imprint as well as how that imprint has carried on the behavior, thoughts, and beliefs. IFS helps to gain clarity in self-awareness, self-acceptance, and self-compassion.

The experience of archetypal coaching offers the individual insight into their motivations, fears, and desires.  The individual can begin to use this understanding to create meaningful change in their lives – in relationships, both personal and career; in career growth; and in any area of influence.  The coaching helps individuals develop a deeper sense of awareness so that they gain a truer acceptance of gifts, talents, abilities, and strengths while having compassion for a more tender resolution to their scars. Scars become the foundation for the inter-weaving story and a new consciousness.

You have heard the phrase “What would _________ do?” 

Imagine having access to an archetypal profile that offers creative problem-solving.  Individuals learn to trust the archetypes and use this inner wisdom as a source for intelligent decision-making and building businesses or a new family structure.

One client quotes, “Archetypal coaching has helped me to re-establish a daily spiritual practice in which I connect with my higher Self. This essential centering ritual is an anchor point for becoming a disciple of my own truth, rather than looking to the external world for validation. 

I was looking for depth coaching to help me see what was holding me back from pursuing my dreams.  Archetypal coaching gets to the heart of the matter quickly. Through archetypal work, I can now connect with parts of myself that have been hidden in my shadow and that needed nurturing. As I evolve my consciousness, I am witnessing myself becoming increasingly more of my true self.”

Archetypal coaching activates an inner hologram of consciousness or inner community that brings to life an individual’s intuition, instinctual nature, and imagination. These sensory systems beyond the basic five senses of touch, sight, hearing, feel and taste give the individual freedom to explore a more personal and deep spiritual truth. A personal form of leadership develops as a new paradigm of self-partnership abounds. 

The inner work builds confidence, embodies emotional agency, and guides the individual to accept the forbidden elements of humanity as a portal to deep connection. Atrophied forms of expression become pathways for an invocation of peace, worth, value, trust, and security. Self-estrangement becomes a resurrection of historical captivity and this love affair yields a wellspring of authenticity. Abandonment and rejection alchemize into auspicious representations of originality.

“What if you just did it your own way? No rules, no right or wrong, just what you think is beautiful?” 

– Sandra Magsamen (Living Artfully)

Archetypal coaching helps bring the art of living into creative expression.  You get to choose.  Choice has always been your birthright.