Using the Internal Autobiographical Map in Coaching Conversations
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Coaching clients often arrive with a clear goal and a long history of not reaching it. Narrative and cognitive approaches suggest that such patterns may be organised by conclusions about the self that were formed earlier in life and continue to guide behaviour. The Internal Autobiographical Map (IAM), developed by Stoyana Natseva, describes how significant experiences are emotionally encoded, given meaning and condensed into conclusions that shape identity and repeated behaviour. Its structural model identifies five components: Core Experience, Conclusion, Rule, Role and Scenario. IAM was introduced as a framework for identity, trauma recovery and psychological resilience. This paper examines how it can be used in coaching, a setting that is goal-focused, works with clients whose needs and goals fall within the scope of professional coaching and is not a form of therapy. It proposes a conversational approach in which the coach moves from the client's present Scenario towards the Role, Rule and Conclusion that sustain it, and then back to present choices and action. For each component it specifies the coaching purpose, question forms, what the coach should avoid and signs that the conversation can move on. It also sets out contracting, pacing and boundary safeguards, including when to stop and refer. The paper is conceptual. It reports no empirical data and does not claim that IAM-informed coaching is effective. Its contribution is a structured, discussable way of using an autobiographical framework within the limits of coaching, and a set of questions for future research.
Author: Jenny Markova,
Language: ang
Topic: Coaching Methods and Impact
Subfield: Applied Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7224905205