When you map Archetype stories, breakthroughs follow patterns.
Leslie Kendall is the Assistant Director of the Arkansas Learning Network. I love her recent reflection on how adult learners experience their first encounter with Archetype work:
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In one hour, I see students transform. They leave with language for their resilience, clarity about their shadows, and practical goals that change their lives at home, at work, and in their communities.
The magic is not random. When you map Archetype stories, breakthroughs follow patterns.
As a coach or consultant, hereโs how you can use these patterns to move clients from shadow to strength following predictable storylines:
Shadow: Avoids hard realities. Tip: Set one tangible action, despite adversity.
Shadow: Conformity is too comfortable. Tip: Ask, โHow does this situation demand your specific strengths?โ
Shadow: Burns out from over-striving. Tip: Reframe success as sustainable wins; build in rest as part of the strategy.
Shadow: Self-sacrifice. Tip: Identify relationships where giving turns into depletion.
Shadow: Wanders in too many directions. Tip: Anchor an exploration by connecting it back to one guiding value.
Shadow: Loses self in others. Tip: Take steps to own 100% responsibility for yourself. Let others do the same.
Shadow: Destroys without rebuilding. Tip: Channel disruption into a constructive vision of what you want instead.
Shadow: Manipulation. Tip: Ask, โWhat truth are you transforming here? For whom?โ
Shadow: Need for control becomes rigidity. Tip: Coach: Loosen your grip. Delegate one decision and observe the result.
Shadow: Analysis paralysis. Tip: Ask, โWhat do you know enough to act on now?โ
Shadow: Avoids serious situations. Tip: Invite laughter and accountability; pair joy with a concrete commitment.
When your clients can identify these stories, you can stop winging it in sessions. If youโre ready to open pathways for clients to shift, I’d love to talk! Schedule a call here.
Leslie Kendall is the Assistant Director of the Arkansas Learning Network. I love her recent reflection on how adult learners experience their first encounter with Archetype work: