Perspective
I help people see angles they had not considered and connect pieces that felt unrelated.
Research
Education
Consulting
People. Identity. Belonging. Teams.
I study how people understand who they are, how that identity shifts, and what happens when our roles, relationships, beliefs, work, or communities stop fitting the way they once did.
Chantel McGrath Nelson Consulting
Researcher • Educator • Identity Specialist
PhD Student in Industrial-Organizational Psychology
Curiosity
Perspective
Identity
Belonging
Motivation
Change
IDENTITY GETS INTERESTING WHEN SOMETHING SHIFTS
Feeling lost can be useful feedback.
When something that helped define us changes, it can feel disorienting. I don’t see that as failure. I see it as information. Something is shifting, which means we have something new to get curious about.
“We can reinvent ourselves as many times as we need to, and as many times as we want to.” — Chantel
WHAT SHAPES WHO WE ARE?
Identity does not develop in isolation.
We are shaped by the people, systems, roles, feedback, culture, experiences, and expectations around us. When one part moves, the rest of the map can move with it.
YOU
Family
Friends
Culture
Religion
Roles
Work
Gender
Feedback
Education
Groups
Values
Experience
IDENTITY NOTE
Part of who we are comes from the groups and social categories we identify with.
Social Identity Theory • Tajfel & Turner; organizational application • Ashforth & MaelFOR INDIVIDUALS
You do not need a crisis to question who you are.
Sometimes life simply rearranges the pieces. My work gives you a place to examine what is changing, what still feels like you, what no longer fits, and what could come next.
Graduation
Marriage
Empty Nest
Relocation
Career Shift
Divorce
Belief Shift
Dark Night
Therapy and identity consulting can work beautifully together. Therapy helps you process. I help you turn what you are learning about yourself into clarity, direction, and action.
Identity System Matrix™
The Identity System Matrix™ helps us move from “I feel lost” to “I understand what is shifting, what matters, and what I want to do next.”
Understand yourself. See the system. Make the move. Start living like you.
Come in saying:
“I don’t know who I am right now.”
You do not need to have the rest figured out before we start.MY FRAMEWORK
A.R.I.S.E.™
A research-informed framework for exploring identity.
As a researcher, educator, and identity specialist, I use the A.R.I.S.E.™ framework I developed through my academic study of identity, alongside the Identity System Matrix™. It helps us examine what was, what is, and what could be without forcing a tidy answer too early.
It is designed for curiosity, perspective-taking, systems thinking, and honest reflection. In other words: we look closely, zoom out when needed, and pay attention to what your uncertainty may be trying to tell you.
Start With a ConversationWHAT PEOPLE NOTICE WHEN WE TALK
Direct. Honest. Curious. No judgment.
No judgment
People tell me they can think out loud with me without feeling like there is a “right” answer they are supposed to reach.
Directness
I am not afraid to ask the question underneath the question or say the thing that may be worth looking at more closely.
Humor
Identity work can be serious without every minute of it feeling heavy. We are allowed to laugh while we learn.
ACADEMIC SNIPPET
Identity is dynamic. It can become more or less salient depending on context.
ACADEMIC SNIPPET
Belonging is a powerful human motive, but belonging does not have to mean sameness.
CHANGING SELF
Sometimes “lost” is simply what it feels like before a new identity has language.
FOR TEAMS
Teams have identities too.
A strong team is not just a collection of talented people. It has shared goals, norms, strengths, weaknesses, motivation, belonging, healthy dissent, and a story about who “we” are.
Galvanizing
Turn energy into movement by clarifying what matters and helping people connect around a shared direction.
Team Identity
Explore how the group defines itself, what it values, how members experience the team, and whether its identity makes room for constructive challenge.
Belonging
Look at who feels included, who feels peripheral, and how belonging can coexist with difference, disagreement, and healthy dissent.
Strengths & Motivation
Identify what the team does well, where friction lives, and what actually moves people toward the goal.
“The goal is not to make everyone think the same. The goal is to understand how people can move together.” — Chantel
ABOUT CHANTEL
I am curious about what makes people become who they are.
I am an educator, researcher, consultant, and PhD student in Industrial-Organizational Psychology. My work focuses on identity, belonging, motivation, group dynamics, and the way people make meaning during change.
Teaching has shaped the way I consult. I create learning environments where people can question assumptions, compare perspectives, notice patterns, and learn something new about themselves without being reduced to a label or handed a canned answer.
I bring academic curiosity, systems thinking, directness, empathy, and humor to the room.
LET’S GET CURIOUS
Tell me what is shifting.
You do not need to arrive with a polished problem statement. Tell me what feels different, confusing, interesting, stuck, or newly possible. We can start there.
Identity consulting can complement therapy and other forms of support, but it is not a substitute for mental-health treatment.