chapters of life narrative therapy assignment

19 Best Narrative Therapy Techniques & Worksheets [+PDF]

19 Narrative Therapy Techniques, Exercises, & Interventions (+ PDF Worksheets)

It is likely that the life story you tell yourself and others changes depending on who is asking, your mood, and whether you feel like you are still at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of your most salient story.

But when was the last time you paused to consider the stories you tell?

“What is your story?”

Narrative therapy capitalizes on this question and our storytelling tendencies. The goal is to uncover opportunities for growth and development, find meaning, and understand ourselves better.

We use stories to inform others, connect over shared experiences, say when we feel wronged, and even to sort out our thoughts and feelings. Stories organize our thoughts, help us find meaning and purpose, and establish our identity in a confusing and sometimes lonely world. Thus, it is important to realize what stories we are telling ourselves, and others, when we talk about our lives.

If you’ve never heard of narrative therapy before, you’re not alone!

This therapy is a specific and less common method of guiding clients towards healing and personal development. It’s revolves around the stories we tell ourselves and others.

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This Article Contains:

What is narrative therapy a definition, 5 commonly used narrative therapy techniques, 3 more narrative therapy exercises and interventions, examples of questions to ask your clients, narrative therapy treatment plan, best books on narrative therapy, youtube videos for further exploration, a handy powerpoint to use, a take-home message.

Narrative therapy is a form of therapy that aims to separate the individual from the problem, allowing the individual to externalize their issues rather than internalize them.

It relies on the individual’s own skills and sense of purpose to guide them through difficult times (Narrative Therapy, 2017).

This form of therapy was developed in the 1980s by Michael White and David Epston (About Narrative Therapy, n.d.).

They believed that separating a person from their problematic or destructive behavior was a vital part of treatment (Michael White (1948-2008), 2015).

For example, when treating someone who had run afoul of the law, they would encourage the individual to see themselves as a person who made mistakes, rather than as an inherently “bad” felon. White and Epston grounded this new therapeutic model in three main ideas.

1. Narrative therapy is respectful.

This therapy respects the agency and dignity of every client. It requires each client to be treated as an individual who is not deficient, not defective, or not “enough” in any way.

Individuals who engage in narrative therapy are brave people who recognize issues they would like to address in their lives.

2. Narrative therapy is non-blaming.

In this form of therapy, clients are never blamed for their problems, and they are encouraged not to blame others as well. Problems emerge in everyone’s lives due to a variety of factors; in narrative therapy, there is no point in assigning fault to anyone or anything.

Narrative therapy separates people from their problems, viewing them as whole and functional individuals who engage in thought patterns or behavior that they would like to change.

3. Narrative therapy views the client as the expert.

In narrative therapy, the therapist does not occupy a higher social or academic space than the client. It is understood that the client is the expert in their own life, and both parties are expected to go forth with this understanding.

Only the client knows their own life intimately and has the skills and knowledge to change their behavior and address their issues (Morgan, 2000).

These three ideas lay the foundation for the therapeutic relationship and the function of narrative therapy. The foundation of this therapeutic process has this understanding and asks clients to take a perspective that may feel foreign. It can be difficult to place a firm separation between people and the problems they are having.

Key Concepts and Approach

Making the distinction between “an individual with problems” and a “problematic individual” is vital in narrative therapy. White and Epston theorized that subscribing to a harmful or adverse self-identity could have profound negative impacts on a person’s functionality and quality of life .

“The problem is the problem, the person is not the problem.”

Michael White and David Epston

To this end, there are a few main themes or principles of narrative therapy:

Reality is socially constructed, which means that our interactions and dialogue with others impacts the way we experience reality.
Reality is influenced by and communicated through language, which suggests that people who speak different languages may have radically different interpretations of the same experiences.
Having a narrative that can be understood helps us organize and maintain our reality. In other words, stories and narratives help us to make sense of our experiences.
There is no “objective reality” or absolute truth; what is true for us may not be the same for another person, or even for ourselves at another point in time (Standish, 2013).

These principles tie into the postmodernist school of thought, which views reality as a shifting, changing, and deeply personal concept. In postmodernism, there is no objective truth—the truth is what each one of us makes it, influenced by social norms and ideas.

Unlike modern thought that held the following tenets as sacred, postmodern thought holds skepticism over grand narratives, the individual, the idea of neutral language, and universal truth.

Thus, the main premise behind narrative therapy is understanding individuals within this postmodern context. If there is no universal truth, then people need to create truths that help them construct a reality that serves themselves and others. Narrative therapy offers those story-shaping skills.

It’s amazing how much easier solving or negating a problem can be, when you stop seeing the problem as an integral part of who you are, and instead, as simply a problem.

chapters of life narrative therapy assignment

The five techniques here are the most common tools used in narrative therapy.

1. Telling One’s Story (Putting Together a Narrative)

As a therapist or other mental health professional, your job in narrative therapy is to help your client find their voice and tell their story in their own words. According to the philosophy behind narrative therapy, storytelling is how we make meaning and find purpose in our own experience (Standish, 2013).

Helping your client develop their story gives them an opportunity to discover meaning, find healing, and establish or re-establish an identity, all integral factors for success in therapy.

This technique is also known as “re-authoring” or “re-storying,” as clients explore their experiences to find alterations to their story or make a whole new one. The same events can tell a hundred different stories since we all interpret experiences differently and find different senses of meaning (Dulwich Centre, n.d.).

2. Externalization Technique

The externalization technique leads your client toward viewing their problems or behaviors as external, instead of an unchangeable part of themselves. This is a technique that is easier to describe than to embrace, but it can have huge positive impacts on self-identity and confidence .

The general idea of this technique is that it is easier to change a behavior you do, than to change a core personality characteristic.

For example, if you are quick to anger or you consider yourself an angry person, then you must fundamentally change something about yourself to address the problem; however, if you are a person who acts aggressively and angers easily, then you need to alter the situations and behaviors surrounding the problem.

It might seem like an insignificant distinction, but there is a profound difference between the mindset of someone who labels themselves as a “problem” person and someone who engages in problematic behavior.

It may be challenging for the client to absorb this strange idea at first. One first step is to encourage your client not to place too much importance on their diagnosis or self-assigned labels. Let them know how empowering it can be to separate themselves from their problems, and allowing themselves a greater degree of control in their identity (Bishop, 2011).

3. Deconstruction Technique

Our problems can feel overwhelming, confusing, or unsolvable, but they are never truly unsolvable (Bishop, 2011).

Deconstructing makes the issue more specific and reduces overgeneralizing; it also clarifies what the core issue or issues actually are.

As an example of the deconstruction technique, imagine two people in a long-term relationship who are having trouble. One partner is feeling frustrated with a partner who never shares her feelings, thoughts, or ideas with him. Based on this short description, there is no clear idea of what the problem is, let alone what the solution might be.

A therapist might deconstruct the problem with this client by asking them to be more specific about what is bothering them, rather than accepting a statement such as, “my spouse doesn’t get me anymore.”

This might lead to a better idea of what is troubling the client, such as general themes of feeling lonely or missing romantic intimacy. Maybe the client has construed a narrative where they are the victim of this helpless relationship, rather than someone with a problem coping with loneliness and communicating this vulnerability with their partner.

Deconstructing the problem helps people understand what the root of problems (in this case, someone is feeling lonely and vulnerable) and what this means to them (in this case, like their partner doesn’t want them anymore or is not willing to commit to the relationship like they are).

This technique is an excellent way to help the client dig into the problem and understand the foundation of the stressful event or pattern in their life.

4. Unique Outcomes Technique

This technique is complex but vital for the storytelling aspect of narrative therapy.

The unique outcomes technique involves changing one’s own storyline. In narrative therapy, the client aims to construct a storyline to their experiences that offers meaning, or gives them a positive and functional identity. This is not as misguided as “thinking positive,” but rather, a specific technique for clients to develop life-affirming stories.

We are not limited to just one storyline, though. There are many potential storylines we can subscribe to, some more helpful than others.

Like a book that switches viewpoints from one character to another, our life has multiple threads of narrative with different perspectives, areas of focus, and points of interest. The unique outcomes technique focuses on a different storyline or storylines than the one holding the source of your problems.

Using this technique might sound like avoiding the problem, but it’s actually just reimagining the problem. What seems like a problem or issue from one perspective can be nothing but an unassuming or insignificant detail in another

(Bishop, 2011).

As a therapist, you can introduce this technique by encouraging client(s) to pursue new storylines.

5. Existentialism

You might have a particular association with the term “ existentialism ” that makes its presence here seem odd, but there is likely more to existentialism than you think.

Existentialism is not a bleak and hopeless view on a world without meaning.

In general, existentialists believe in a world with no inherent meaning; if there is no given meaning, then people can create their own meaning. In this way, existentialism and narrative therapy go hand in hand. Narrative therapy encourages individuals to find their meaning and purpose rather than search for an absolute truth that does not necessarily resonate for themselves.

If your client is an avid reader, you might consider suggesting some existentialist works as well, such as those by Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, or Martin Heidegger.

The visual below helps summarize what narrative therapy is, and how it can be used.

narrative therapy What's your story? infographic

You can download the printable version of the infographic here .

While narrative therapy is more of a dialogue between the therapist and client, there are some exercises and activities to supplement the regular therapy sessions. A few of these are described below.

1. Statement of Position Map

Statement of Position Map narrative therapy exercises

Characteristics and naming or labeling of the problem
Mapping the effects of the problem throughout each domain of life it touches (home, work, school, relationships, etc.)
Evaluation of the effects of the problem in these domains
Values that come up when thinking about why these effects are undesirable

This map is intended to be filled out in concert with a therapist, but it can be explored if it is difficult to find a narrative therapist.

Generally, the dialogue between a therapist and client will delve into these four areas. The therapist can ask questions and probe for deeper inquiry, while the client discusses the problem they are having and seeks insight in any of the four main areas listed above. There is power in the act of naming the problem and slowly shifting the idea that we are a passive viewer of our lives.

Finally, it is vital for the client to understand why this problem bothers them on a deeper level. What values are being infringed upon or obstructed by this problem? Why does the client feel negative about the problem? For example, what does the “stressful dinner party” bring up for them? Perhaps feelings of social anxiety and “otherness” that feel isolating? These are questions that this exercise can help to answer.

For a much more comprehensive look at this exercise, you can read these workshop notes from Michael White on using the statement position maps.

You can also access a PowerPoint in which a similar exercise is covered here .

2. My Life Story

person writing a book - narrative therapy exercise

This exercise is all about your story, and all you need is the printout and a pen or pencil.

The intention of the My Life Story exercise is to separate yourself from your past and gain a broader perspective on your life. It aims to create an outline of your life that does not revolve too intensly around memories as much as moments of intensity or growth.

First, you write the title of the book that is your life. Maybe it is simply “Monica’s Life Story,” or something more reflective of the themes you see in your life, like “Monica: A Story of Perseverance.”

In the next section, come up with at least seven chapter titles, each one representing a significant stage or event in your life. Once you have the chapter title, come up with one sentence that sums up the chapter. For example, your chapter title could be “Awkward and Uncertain” and the description may read “My teenage years were dominated by a sense of uncertainty and confusion in a family of seven.”

Next, you will consider your final chapter and add a description of your life in the future. What will you do in the future? Where will you go, and who will you be? This is where you get to flex your predictive muscles.

Finally, the last step is to add to your chapters as necessary to put together a comprehensive story of your life.

This exercise will help you to organize your thoughts and beliefs about your life and weave together a story that makes sense to you. The idea is not to get too deep into any specific memories, but instead to recognize that what is in your past is truly the past. It shaped you, but it does not have to define you. Your past made you the reflective and wiser person of today.

You can download this worksheet here .

3. Expressive Arts

This intervention can be especially useful for children, but adults may find relief and meaning in it as well.

We all have different methods of telling our stories, and using the arts to do so has been a staple of humanity for countless generations. To take advantage of this expressive and creative way to tell your stories, explore the different methods at your disposal.

Meditate . Guided relaxation or individual meditation can be an effective way to explore a problem.
Journal. Journaling has many potential benefits. Consider a specific set of question s (e.g., How does the problem affect you? How did the problem take hold in your life?) or simply write a description of yourself or your story from the point of view of the problem. This can be difficult but can lead to a greater understanding of the problem and how it influences the domains of your life.
Draw. If you’re more interested in depictions of the problem’s impact on your experience, you can use your skills to draw or paint the effects of the problem. You can create a symbolic drawing, map the effects of the problem, or create a cartoon that represents the problem in your life. If drawing sounds intimidating, you can even doodle abstract shapes with the colors of the emotions you feel, and keywords that express your reflection in that moment.
Movement. You can use the simple medium of movement and mindfulness to create and express your story. Begin by moving in your usual way, then allow the problem to influence your movement. Practice mindful observation to see what changes when you let the problem take hold. Next, develop a transitional movement that begins to shake the problem’s hold on you. Finally, transition into a “liberation movement” to metaphorically and physically explore how to escape the problem.
Visualization. Use visualization techniques to consider how your life might be in a week, a month, a year, or a few years, both with this problem continuing and in a timeline where you embrace a new direction. Share your experience with a partner or therapist, or reflect in your journal to explore the ways in which this exercise helped you find meaning or new possibilities for your life (Freeman, 2013).

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Narrative therapy is a dialogue in which both you and your client converse to learn about your story. As you may imagine, it requires many questions on the part of the therapist.

“Every time we ask a question, we’re generating a possible version of a life.”

David Epston

The list of questions below is intended to go with the statement of position maps, but these questions can be useful outside of this exercise too:

It sounds as though [problem] is part of your life now.
How long have you been noticing this [problem]?
What effect does the [problem] have on your life?
How does the [problem] impact on your energy for daily tasks?
Does [problem] have an impact on your relationship with other family members?
What effects does [problem] have on your child’s life?
What do you think about the effects [problem] is having on your life?
Are you accepting what [problem] is doing?
Are these effects acceptable to you or not?
Why is this? Why are you taking this position on what [problem] is doing?
How would you prefer things to be?
If you were to stay connected to what you have just said about what you prefer, what next steps could you take?

The website www.integratedfamilytherapy.com also provides excellent examples of questions to ask your client as you move through their story:

Enabling Openings Can you describe the last time you managed to get free of the problem for a couple of minutes? What was the first thing you noticed in those few minutes? What was the next thing?
Linking Openings with Preferred Experience Would you like more minutes like these in your life?
Moving from Openings to Alternative Story Development. What was each of you thinking/feeling/doing/wishing/imagining during those few minutes?
Broadening the Viewpoint. What might your friend have noticed about you if she had met up with you in those few minutes?
Exploring Landscapes of Action. How did you achieve that? How did Tim help you with that?
Exploring Landscapes of Consciousness. What have you learned about what you can manage from those few minutes?
Linking with the Exceptions in the Past. Tell me about times when you have managed to achieve a similar few minutes in the past?
Linking Exceptions from the Past with the Present. When you think about those times in the past when you have achieved this, how might this alter your view of the problem now?
Linking Exceptions from the Past with the Future. Thinking about this now, what do you expect to do next?

Developing a treatment plan for narrative therapy is a personal and intensive activity in any therapeutic relationship, and there are guidelines for how to incorporate an effective plan.

This PDF provides a profile of a treatment plan, including goals and guidelines for each stage and theories that can apply to the client’s treatment.

The co-founder of narrative therapy, Michael White, offers an additional resource for therapists using narrative therapy.

According to White, there are three main processes in treatment:

1) Externalization of the problem, which mirrors the steps of the position mapping exercise:

Developing a particular, experience-near definition of the problem;
Mapping the effects of the problem;
Evaluating the effects of the problem;
and justifying the evaluation.

2) Re-authoring conversations by:

Helping the client include neglected aspects of themselves;
and shifting the problem-centered narrative.

3) Remembering conversations that actively engage the client in the process of:

Renewing their relationships;
Removing the relationships that no longer serve them;
and finding meaning in their story that is no longer problem-saturated as much as resilient-rich.

If you’re as much of a bookworm as I am, you’ll want a list of suggested reading to complement this piece. You’re in luck!

These three books are some of the highest rated books on narrative therapy and offer a solid foundation in the practice of narrative techniques.

1. Maps of Narrative Practice – Michael White

This book from one of the developers of narrative therapy takes the reader through the five main areas of narrative therapy, according to White: re-authoring conversations, remembering conversations, scaffolding conversations, definitional ceremony, and externalizing conversations.

In addition, the book maps out the therapeutic process, complete with implications for treatment and skills training exercises for the reader.

Find the book on Amazon .

2. What is narrative therapy? : An easy-to-read introduction – Alice Morgan

This best-seller provides a simple and easy to understand introduction to the main tenets of narrative therapy.

In this book, you will find information on externalization, remembering, therapeutic letter writing, journaling, and reflection in the context of narrative therapy.

Morgan’s book is especially useful for therapists and other mental health professionals who wish to add narrative techniques and exercises to their practice.

3. Narrative Therapy: The Social Construction of Preferred Realities – Gene Combs and Jill Freedman

This book is best saved for those who want to dive headfirst into the philosophical underpinnings of narrative therapy.

Casual readers interested in learning more about narrative therapy may want to try one of the first two books; students, teachers, and practitioners will find this book challenging, informative, and invaluable to their studies.

Included in this book are example transcripts and descriptions of therapy sessions in which the principles and interventions of narrative therapy are applied.

1. This quick, 5-minute video can give you an idea of how some of the techniques of narrative therapy can be applied in real counseling sessions, specifically with children and families. As Dr. Madigan quotes in this video, “we speak ourselves into meaning.”

We need to speak in ways that serve us.

3. Finally, for a fun and engaging exploration of narrative therapy for in couples counseling, click the link below. It leads to a video involving puppets and outlining some of the main techniques and principles involved in narrative couples therapy.

Around four minutes in, a breakthrough moment occurs when the therapist puppet says, “so you’re feeling anxious because you don’t know what direction this is going to take you.” This is an example of deconstructive questioning, and how it helps uncover the deeper vulnerability of any “problem.”

If you’re more a reader or if you like to go at your own pace, check out this slideshow on narrative therapy.

It’s intended for students learning about narrative therapy in an academic setting. Some of the languages may seem specific and jargon abounds, but there is some great information in here for any readers curious about the philosophy, principles, and theories behind narrative therapy.

Follow this link to view the slideshow.

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How do you tell your story? What are the chapters of your life? Do you like the story you tell, or would you prefer to change your story? These and many other questions can be answered in narrative therapy.

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”

Maya Angelou

If you’re an individual curious about narrative therapy, I hope your curiosity is piqued and that you have a foundation now for further learning.

If you’re a therapist or other mental health professional interested in applying narrative therapy in your work, I hope this piece can give you a starting point for you.

As always, please leave us your thoughts in the comment section. Have you tried narrative therapy? If so, what did you think? Did you find it useful? What techniques in particular capture your interest?

Thanks for reading and happy storytelling!

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Positive Psychology Exercises for free .

About Narrative Therapy. (n.d.). Narrative Therapy Centre of Toronto. Retrieved from http://www.narrativetherapycentre.com/narrative.html
Bishop, W. H. (2011, May 16). Narrative therapy summary. Thoughts From a Therapist. Retrieved from http://www.thoughtsfromatherapist.com/2011/05/16/narrative-therapy-summary/
Dulwich Centre. (n.d.). What is narrative therapy? Dulwich Centre. Retrieved from http://dulwichcentre.com.au/what-is-narrative-therapy/
Freeman, J. (2013, June 5). Expressive arts workshop materials. Narrative Approaches. Retrieved from http://www.narrativeapproaches.com/expressive-arts-workshop-materials/
Michael White (1948-2008). (2015, July 24). GoodTherapy. Retrieved from http://www.goodtherapy.org/famous-psychologists/michael-white.html
Morgan, A. (2000). What is narrative therapy? An easy-to-read introduction. Adelaide, SA: Dulwich Centre Publications.
Narrative Therapy. (2017). Good Therapy. Retrieved from http://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/types/narrative-therapy
Standish, K. (2013, November 28). Introduction to narrative therapy [Slideshow]. Retrieved from https://www.slideshare.net/kevins299/lecture-8-narrative-therapy

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What our readers think.

Wow, this is really invalidating. It’s always so telling when mental health providers focus on “behavior change” when sometimes behaviors aren’t the issue. It’s also telling that the author assumes that mentioning children and family is not triggering to clients. What if the issue is that there is not a possibility of children or family?

Why is the assumption that telling one’s story is the issue? For many of us, we are aware of and can express our stories; that’s not the issue.

Yikes for those of us who have already had terrible and invalidating experiences with therapy.

I’m genuinely sorry to hear that the content has resonated with you this way. It’s crucial to acknowledge that everyone’s experience with mental health is unique, and what works for one person might not be suitable for another. The intention is never to invalidate anyone’s feelings or experiences. Instead, the aim is to provide diverse tools and perspectives that might be helpful to some.

Your point about the assumptions regarding family and storytelling is well-taken, and it highlights the importance of a more inclusive and sensitive approach that considers the varied backgrounds and experiences of all individuals.

If there are specific topics or resources you feel would be more beneficial or sensitive to your experiences, we’re open to suggestions.

Warm regards, Julia | Community Manager

Existentialism has little to do with White and Epston’s developments — please be more cautious about representing Narrative Practice. There are some more subtle inaccuracies here as well (deconstruction isn’t well represented, re-authoring and re-membering are hardly mentioned, not to mention outsider witness conversations and the abscent but implicit, to name several, but not all), but the problem I’m citing really needs to be addressed.

I always enjoy relearning the techniques of Narrative Therapy but could use a guideline that focuses on Addiction. I am a co-occurring therapist that works with Addiction and Mental Health and use externalization a lot. It would be great if you had a specific worksheet/questionnaire that addresses addiction specifically.

Thanks so much for your insight!

Kind Regards, Diane Music

Dear Diane,

Thank you for reaching out and expressing your interest in resources specifically designed for the context of addiction. It’s wonderful to hear you’re applying Narrative Therapy techniques in your work!

Although we presently lack resources specifically tailored to your case, we recommend adapting the principles of Narrative Therapy to suit the unique needs of your clients battling addiction:

– Externalizing the Problem: As you’re already doing, this can be particularly beneficial in addiction therapy. It helps the client see their addiction as a separate entity rather than an inherent part of themselves. They can then examine how ‘the addiction’ influences their life and choices. – Deconstructing Dominant Narratives: Encourage clients to explore societal and personal beliefs about addiction. Challenge these narratives and help clients construct their own, empowering narratives. – Highlighting Unique Outcomes: Help your clients identify times when they successfully resisted the ‘pull’ of addiction. These ‘unique outcomes’ can help them see their own strength and capacity for change. – Letter Writing: This can be a powerful tool for clients to communicate with their ‘addiction,’ express their feelings, or articulate their hopes for the future. – Mapping the Influence: Create a visual map of how addiction influences different areas of their life. This can be a powerful tool for externalization and for identifying areas to work on.

We hope to have more specialized resources available soon. Until then, we believe the techniques mentioned above, when applied with sensitivity and creativity, can be highly effective in a narrative approach to addiction therapy.

Thank you for the impactful work you’re doing!

Best Regards, Julia | Community Manager

“Expressive Arts. This intervention can be especially useful for children, but adults may find relief and meaning in it as well.” As an expressive arts therapist, I found this comment to be confusing and somewhat misinformed. Firstly, the “expressive arts” are not an intervention, but are a collective of psychotherapeutic techniques and disciplines. There is also an insinuation that the expressive arts (or, more accurately, “expressive arts therapy”) are mostly for children, while adults, secondarily, “may find relief and meaning in it as well.” I have worked primarily with adults as an expressive therapist. The misconception that expressive therapy is mostly for children is a bias that many of us must contend with from those who do not understand that we are trained psychotherapists who work with adults. Thank you.

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10 Narrative Therapy Activities & Exercises to do with Clients in Therapy

Michael White and David Epston developed Narrative Therapy in the 1980s. Therapists who employ this approach hold the belief that by examining, deconstructing, and reshaping troublesome narratives, clients can transform their perspectives and construct new narratives that enhance their overall well-being (Seligman & Reichenberg, 2010). Keep reading to learn 10 Narrative Therapy activities and exercises to do with your clients.

View all of our Narrative Therapy Worksheets

In Narrative Therapy, clients are regarded as the authorities on their own stories, while clinicians serve as experts in the application of Narrative Therapy. Clinicians strive to incorporate their clients’ strengths and resources into the therapeutic process, offering support and encouragement along the way (Seligman & Reichenberg, 2010).

One distinction of Narrative Therapy from other therapeutic approaches is the practice of “interactive mirroring,” wherein clinicians actively participate as witnessing companions (Seligman & Reichenberg, 2010).

Coping Skills Worksheets Bundle (Editable, Fillable, Printable PDFs)

Narrative Therapy Worksheets Bundle (Editable, Fillable, Printable PDFs)

Denborough and C. White identified the following as key concepts associated with Narrative Therapy:

Enabling people to tell their stories in a way that can make them stronger
With stories that have trouble, hardship, loss , and despair, there is always more than one story
When whole communities are affected, we seek collective ways forward, which involves finding ways to share skills within various members of our community.
As counselors, it is best to start small. Our role is to “play our part” in sustaining and building on the local initiatives of individuals, families, groups, and communities.
People are always responding to the difficulties they are facing
Enable those who are experiencing hardship to make a contribution to others who are also experiencing hardships
Experiencing the act of making a contribution generates and sustains hope

Narrative Therapy can be combined with other therapeutic approaches including humanistic and experiential approaches.

Why Narrative Therapy?

Narrative Therapy is chosen for several compelling reasons:

Empowering Personal Narratives : Narrative Therapy empowers individuals to examine and reshape the stories they tell about themselves and their lives. It helps them move from problem-saturated narratives to more empowering and preferred narratives.
Externalization of Problems : This approach externalizes problems, allowing individuals to see that issues are separate from their identity. It helps reduce shame and self-blame.
Culturally Sensitive : Narrative Therapy can be adapted to be culturally sensitive, respecting the diverse cultural backgrounds and perspectives of clients.
Effective for a Range of Concerns : It is effective for a wide range of concerns, including depression , anxiety , trauma , relationship issues, and identity exploration.
Collaborative Approach : Narrative Therapy is collaborative, with therapists and clients working together to explore and co-author new, more constructive narratives.
Focus on Strengths and Resources : It emphasizes clients’ strengths, resources, and resilience, helping them recognize their capacity for change and growth.
Promotion of Agency : Narrative Therapy promotes agency and personal responsibility, enabling individuals to take an active role in shaping their own lives.
Mindfulness and Reflection : It encourages mindfulness and reflection, helping individuals gain a deeper understanding of their thoughts, emotions, and actions.
Long-Term Benefits : Many individuals who engage in Narrative Therapy report lasting improvements in their self-concept, relationships, and overall well-being.
Crisis and Transition Support : Narrative Therapy can be especially helpful during times of crisis, life transitions, or when individuals are seeking to make meaning of significant life events.
Holistic Approach : Narrative Therapy offers a holistic approach to well-being, considering not only the individual but also their social and cultural context.
Transdiagnostic Application : While initially developed for specific issues, Narrative Therapy can be adapted to address a wide variety of concerns, making it suitable for clients with diverse issues.
Positive Therapeutic Relationship : Narrative Therapy places a strong emphasis on building a positive therapeutic relationship, creating a safe and non-judgmental space for clients to explore their narratives.
Customized Treatment : Narrative Therapy is highly adaptable and can be tailored to meet the unique needs and goals of each individual, ensuring that therapy is individualized and relevant.
Enhanced Meaning-Making : It helps individuals make sense of their experiences and find meaning in their lives, contributing to a greater sense of purpose and fulfillment.

Narrative Therapy is particularly well-suited for individuals seeking to reframe their life stories, challenge unhelpful narratives, and discover new perspectives that promote personal growth and well-being. It offers a collaborative and client-centered approach to therapy that respects the unique narratives of each individual. Keep reading to learn Narrative Therapy activities you can do with your clients.

Mental Health Concerns That Can Benefit from Narrative Therapy

A benefit of Narrative Therapy is that it does not focus on any specific concerns. Because of this, Narrative Therapy can be applied to clients with a range of presenting concerns and mental health concerns.

Narrative Therapy has been found to successfully treat children who are struggling with: delinquency, bullying, and other conduct concerns (Seligman, & Reichenberg, 2010). Additionally, Narrative Therapy can be effective for adults who are struggling with:

Eating disorders
Marital and relationship challenges
Abuse from childhood
Schizophrenia

As with all therapeutic approaches, there are limitations associated with Narrative Therapy. Narrative Therapy would not be appropriate for clients who have poor contact with reality, individuals who are looking for quick results, individuals who are in a crisis, and those who have little hope for their therapeutic outcomes.

Narrative Therapy Activities

Narrative Therapy exercises can be used to reinforce and practice material discussed during sessions. Narrative Therapy activities can provide clients with an opportunity to practice skills they learned in session in a safe and encouraging environment. Additionally, this can provide counselors with the chance to provide feedback regarding helpful modifications that clients can make to the skills they are learning. Here is an example list of Narrative Therapy exercises that can be used during Narrative Therapy Sessions:

Using a tree of life exercise during your Narrative Therapy session will allow your client to explore where they came from, their normative activities, their skills and values, their dreams and wishes, what is important to them, any legacies they are carrying, and what they hope to leave with others. This exercise can help clients work towards living in a way that reflects their true selves in a healthy manner by letting go of unhealthy beliefs.
Deconstructing is an approach that Counselors can take to help clients identify the root of their concerns, and what it means for them. By asking clients to be specific during this exercise, you can work to understand themes that your client is experiencing that are contributing to their narrative. Once there is a better understanding of the theme or pattern that they are experiencing, they can then work to correct the situation.
Work with your client as they work to write their life story. This can include important experiences in their past, their current life experiences, and what they are working towards for their future. This exercise can help clients gain new insight regarding their experiences, and help widen their view of themselves. TherapyPatron.com has a My Life Story worksheet that can guide you and your client through this exercise. Allow time to explore if this activity was able to bring something new into their perspective.
Talk to your client about different ways that they can express themselves. This can include meditation, journaling, drawing, moving, or visualizing. Encourage your client to use different forms of expressing themselves to find one, or more, ways that they can effectively get out what they are feeling. Allow for time to talk about any barriers or hesitations that your client has regarding some of the methods of expressing themselves, as they may have a narrative associated with the activity which differs from what you would like them to try.
A follow up exercise to the previous Narrative Therapy activity would be to revisit the challenging experience they wrote about, and this time, try to reconstruct it. This will include exploring why the event happened, why they felt the way they did, and why they acted in the manner that they did. Allow for time to process this exercise and explore any shifts in their narrative that they experienced.
Another writing Narrative Therapy activity would be to have your client write their own eulogy. With a vague direction, you can allow the client to write as they believe their eulogy would be written at this moment, or how they would like it to be written. This can be done in session, or you can ask your client to complete this Narrative therapy exercise as homework. Allow time to process this activity and explore changes that this activity made them consider and behaviors that support their values and goals that they wish to continue engaging in.
Using the externalizing technique can allow the client to separate their challenges from themselves. This can improve their self-esteem and confidence. An example of this would be someone who identifies themselves with a mental illness. This can look like someone saying, “ I am bipolar ” and “I am anxious”. Rather, clients can change their narrative to something similar to “I am living with anxiety”, or “I am struggling with bipolar symptoms”. Similarly, this is something that Counselors can model to clients by being mindful of how we associate their challenges with them as human beings.
Spend time exploring and identifying your client’s core values. Core value worksheets can help facilitate this activity by offering common values for your client to consider. Once your client has completed the exercise, you can talk about how their values are tied to their current challenges and future goals. Is there anything that they are working towards or struggling with that does not align with their values?
Ask your client to write two letters; one to themselves as a child, and one to their teenage self. Encourage them to think about what wisdom or encouragement would have helped them during this time, and what they feel is important to share. Topics that can be included would be how to cope with difficult emotions and situations, and how to find happiness and joy at those times. Encourage your client to show themselves kindness and compassion in those letters that they wish they had received during those times. Allow time for the client to share the letter if they feel comfortable doing so, and process this experience for them.
Ask your client to spend 10 minutes a day writing about a challenging experience they have had. Your client will write about the same experience for 5 consecutive days. At the end of the 5 days, have your client bring their written narrative into session. Spend time exploring any changes that occurred to the story over the 5 days and how these changes impacted the story they associate with the experience. Provide your client with a worksheet, similar to the one available at TherapyPatron.com to facilitate this exercise at home.

Final Thoughts On Choosing Activities for Narrative Therapy

Thank you for reading this resource on 10 Narrative Therapy activities and exercises you can do with your clients. The versatility of Narrative Therapy in addressing various mental health and interpersonal issues makes it a compelling therapeutic option. Engaging in Narrative Therapy activities can enhance a client’s self-esteem and foster alignment between their behaviors and core values.

If you wish to deepen your knowledge of Narrative Therapy and incorporate its exercises into your sessions, consider exploring continuing education opportunities and specialized training programs. Acquiring a solid understanding of Narrative Therapy’s principles, techniques, and interventions will enable you to enhance your competence in practicing this approach within your counseling relationships.

TherapyPatron.com helps mental health professionals better serve their clients. Our (editable, fillable, printable PDF) therapy worksheets can help you streamline your practice, effectively deliver different types of therapy, and support your clients be the best version of themselves.

Denborough, D., & White, C. (2007, November). Collective narrative practices . Narrative Therapy Centre. Retrieved March 9, 2023, from https://narrativetherapycentre.com/collective-narrative-practices/
Seligman, L., & Reichenberg, L. W. (2010). Narrative Therapy. In Theories of Counseling and Psychotherapy: Systems, Strategies, and Skills (3rd ed., pp. 220–225). essay, Pearson Education, Inc.

Author: Kayla VanGuilder, MA, LCMHC

Kayla is a Mental Health Counselor who earned her degree from Niagara University in Lewiston, New York. She has provided psychotherapy in a residential treatment program and an outpatient addiction treatment facility in New York as well as an inpatient addiction rehab in Ontario, Canada. She has experience working with individuals living with a variety of mental health concerns including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder , and trauma.

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7 Narrative Therapy Worksheets (+ A complete guide)

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The Optimistminds editorial team is made up of psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health professionals. Each article is written by a team member with exposure to and experience in the subject matter. The article then gets reviewed by a more senior editorial member. This is someone with extensive knowledge of the subject matter and highly cited published material.

This page presents narrative therapy worksheets.

These narrative therapy worksheets aim to help individuals identify their values and resolve their issues while considering those values.

Some of these narrative therapy worksheets are created by us while some of them have been curated from reputable third-party websites after reviewing relevant content in bulk.

Narrative Therapy Worksheet- Identifying Values

Narrative therapy is a kind of psychotherapy in which individuals identify their skills and abilities to help them resolve their conflicts.

It enables individuals to solve their problems by themselves, using their own abilities. Narrative therapy aid individuals in finding out their values and exploring skills that are associated with those values.

This helps individuals to apply knowledge of their abilities to live these values to enable them to confront their present and future issues.

In addition to helping people recognize their inner voice, narrative therapy allows individuals to use their values for their good.

It enables them to acquire these values to become experts in their lives and live their life according to their goals and values.

When individuals are able to listen to their inner voice, they can efficiently recognize their values and work on achieving them.

This makes their life worth living.

Narrative Therapy Worksheet – Writing My Life Story

Narrative therapy is a non-blaming, interactive and playful approach.

This kind of psychotherapy is helpful for clients who feel their counselors are unable to recognize their needs and help them deal with their issues.

Narrative therapy is helpful for children as well. It is helpful for individuals who are facing difficulties in their lives.

Narrative therapy can aid people with psychological disturbances such as depression or bipolar disorder.

Empirical evidence has shown that narrative therapy has significant impacts on the mental well-being and distress level of an individual.

In addition to it, the effects of narrative therapy are durable.

Narrative therapy aims to disclose the hidden aspects of an individual’s past in the form of life narrative, aid individuals in learning emotion regulation and help them construct new meaning with respect to the stories that may emerge in the therapy.

Narrative Therapy Worksheet- Resolving Conflicts

Narrative therapy is a kind of psychotherapy in which individuals are enabled to identify their values and skills related to those values.

Identifying values gives individuals a direction to move whereas the abilities associated with those values help individuals deal with their present and future issues.

Narrative therapists are found to be similar to solution-focused peers on the basis of their similar assumption that people are resourceful and have strengths.

The people do not see people as having conflicts but they see issues as being imposed on people by the nonbeneficial or detrimental societal cultural practices.

Narrative Therapy Worksheet- My Life Story-A Narrative Exercise

My life story- a narrative exercise, is a great worksheet to help an individual write his life story, mentioning all the important events of his life.

This worksheet aims to help an individual review his life events closely and work on them to prevent the effects of past events on his present and future.

It enables an individual to create emotional distance fro his past so he can become more reflective to understand the true meaning of his life, his values, goals, and ambitions.

The worksheets aid an individual to organize his events by writing his events and develop self-compassion without indulging too deep into his memories.

The worksheet allows an individual to write his life story very briefly, mentioning only the important events of his life.

Then the individual is directed to write something about his future and the important events he wants to ad hin this story.

This is a very simple yet effective worksheet.

You can download it in the form of pdf from here .

Narrative Therapy Worksheet- Life Story

Focusing on the past events of life and determining the effects of those events on the present life of an individual can help him understand the intensity of those events and help him get rid of those memories to improve his present and the future.

The worksheet, life story, by therapistaid.com, is based on narrative therapy.

This worksheet allows the individual to write his life story in three different parts; the past, the present, and the future.

This enables an individual to pay attention to the important events of all three phases of his life and helps him find his true meaning of life, his goals, aims, and values.

It also enables the individual to identify their personal strengths in each of the three sections.

This worksheet aims to aid individuals to find their meaning of life, work on them by recognizing their strengths and develop a sense of fulfillment that leads to happiness and contentment.

This worksheet can be accessed from here .

Narrative Therapy Worksheet- Narrative Therapy Exercises

Narrative therapy exercises consist of ten effective exercises based on narrative therapy, that can help an individual find the true meaning of their lives and work on them.

The first exercise directs the individual to write about the struggling event of his life for four consecutive days.

This exercise enables the individual to identify the small edits in his writings that can have a lasting effect on his life.

The second exercise directs an individual to write about a painful event of his life once but as a 3rd person. This exercise leaves positive impacts on the individual’s life.

Tye third exercises aim to enable the individual to focus on why a certain painful or distressing event occurred in his life.

The fifth exercise increases awareness about oneself and allows the individual to identify his ideal future.

The sixth exercise allows the individual to write a letter about his unresolved or conflictual relationships but with the opposite hand.

The seventh exercise allows the individual to write a letter about the chapter of his life to a close partner.

The eighth exercise directs an individual to write a letter about his life events, past, present, and future to himself.

Ninth exercises aim to increase self-awareness of the individual and enable him to analyze himself.

The last exercise directs the individual to narrate his story to a close partner while considering specific experiences.

This worksheet is easily accessible on the internet. You can download it from here .

Narrative Therapy Worksheet- Problem Solving CYP

Problem-solving CYP worksheet is a great resource for allowing the individual to resolve their conflicts.

This brief, simple but effective worksheet that enables individuals to find out solutions for their problems skillfully.

The worksheet enables individuals to identify their problem and directs them to think of at least three solutions to the problem.

Then it allows the individual to focus on the advantages and disadvantages of using each solution for resolving the conflict.

Next, the individuals are asked to select the best solution ad use it to resolve their conflicts.

This worksheet enhances the problem-solving abilities of an individual and enables him to view one thing from more than one perspective.

It also improves his analyzing skills.

This worksheet can be accessed on the internet easily.

You can download this worksheet for this page.

This page provides you with some of the best and most effective narrative therapy worksheets that are helpful for you in identifying your values, strengths and enhancing your problem-solving abilities.

Some of these worksheets were created by us while some of them were curated from reputable third-party websites.

If you have any questions or queries regarding these worksheets, let us know through your comments.

We will be glad to assist you.

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10 Narrative Therapy Exercises & Activities to do with your Clients

Narrative Therapy was developed in the 1980s by Michael White and David Epston. Clinicians who utilize Narrative Therapy believe that with exploration, deconstruction, and revision of problematic stories, clients can shift their perceptions to create new scripts which can improve their quality of life (Seligman, Reichenberg, 2010). Keep reading to learn 10 Narrative therapy Exercises and Activities to do with your clients.

View all of our Narrative Therapy Worksheets

With Narrative Therapy, clients are viewed as the experts of their own stories, and clinicians as experts of Narrative Therapy. Clinicians work to keep their client’s strengths and resources involved in their work while providing encouragement to their clients (Seligman, & Reichenberg, 2010).

A difference between Narrative Therapy and other therapeutic approaches is that clinicians engage in “interactive mirroring” while acting as participating witnesses (Seligman, & Reichenberg, 2010).

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Denborough and C. White identified the following as key concepts associated with Narrative Therapy:

Enabling people to tell their stories in a way that can make them stronger
Enable those who are experiencing hardship to make a contribution to others who are also experiencing hardships
Experiencing the act of making a contribution generates and sustains hope
With stories that have trouble, hardship, loss , and despair, there is always more than one story
People are always responding to the difficulties they are facing
As counselors, it is best to start small. Our role is to “play our part” in sustaining and building on the local initiatives of individuals, families, groups, and communities.
When whole communities are affected, we seek collective ways forward, which involves finding ways to share skills within various members of our community.

Narrative Therapy can be combined with other therapeutic approaches including humanistic and experiential approaches.

Mental Health Concerns That Can Benefit from Narrative Therapy

Narrative Therapy has been found to successfully treat children who are struggling with delinquency, bullying, and other conduct concerns (Seligman, & Reichenberg, 2010). Additionally, Narrative Therapy can be effective for adults who are struggling with eating disorders, marital and relationship challenges, are childhood abuse survivors, individuals struggling with grief, individuals who are living with schizophrenia, violent sex offenders, and trauma survivors (Seligman, & Reichenberg, 2010).

Narrative Therapy Activities

Work with your client as they work to write their life story. This can include important experiences in their past, their current life experiences, and what they are working towards for their future. This exercise can help clients gain new insight regarding their experiences, and help widen their view of themselves. TherapyByPro has a My Life Story worksheet that can guide you and your client through this exercise. Allow time to explore if this activity was able to bring something new into their perspective.
Using the externalizing technique can allow the client to separate their challenges from themselves. This can improve their self-esteem and confidence. An example of this would be someone who identifies themselves with a mental illness. This can look like someone saying, “ I am bipolar ” and “I am anxious”. Rather, clients can change their narrative to something similar to “I am living with anxiety ”, or “I am struggling with bipolar symptoms”. Similarly, this is something that Counselors can model to clients by being mindful of how we associate their challenges with them as human beings.
Spend time exploring and identifying your client’s core values. Core value worksheets can help facilitate this activity by offering common values for your client to consider. Once your client has completed the exercise, you can talk about how their values are tied to their current challenges and future goals. Is there anything that they are working towards or struggling with that does not align with their values?
Deconstructing is an approach that Counselors can take to help clients identify the root of their concerns, and what it means for them. By asking clients to be specific during this exercise, you can work to understand themes that your client is experiencing that are contributing to their narrative. Once there is a better understanding of the theme or pattern that they are experiencing, they can then work to correct the situation.
Ask your client to spend 10 minutes a day writing about a challenging experience they have had. Your client will write about the same experience for 5 consecutive days. At the end of the 5 days, have your client bring their written narrative into session. Spend time exploring any changes that occurred to the story over the 5 days and how these changes impacted the story they associate with the experience. Provide your client with a worksheet , similar to the one available at TherapyByPro to facilitate this exercise at home.
A follow up exercise to the previous Narrative Therapy activity would be to revisit the challenging experience they wrote about, and this time, try to reconstruct it. This will include exploring why the event happened, why they felt the way they did, and why they acted in the manner that they did. Allow for time to process this exercise and explore any shifts in their narrative that they experienced.
Talk to your client about different ways that they can express themselves. This can include meditation, journaling, drawing, moving, or visualizing. Encourage your client to use different forms of expressing themselves to find one, or more, ways that they can effectively get out what they are feeling. Allow for time to talk about any barriers or hesitations that your client has regarding some of the methods of expressing themselves, as they may have a narrative associated with the activity which differs from what you would like them to try.
Using a tree of life exercise during your Narrative Therapy session will allow your client to explore where they came from, their normative activities, their skills and values, their dreams and wishes, what is important to them, any legacies they are carrying, and what they hope to leave with others. This exercise can help clients work towards living in a way that reflects their true selves in a healthy manner by letting go of unhealthy beliefs.
Another writing Narrative Therapy activity would be to have your client write their own eulogy. With a vague direction, you can allow the client to write as they believe their eulogy would be written at this moment, or how they would like it to be written. This can be done in session, or you can ask your client to complete this Narrative therapy exercise as homework. Allow time to process this activity and explore changes that this activity made them consider and behaviors that support their values and goals that they wish to continue engaging in.
Ask your client to write two letters; one to themselves as a child, and one to their teenage self. Encourage them to think about what wisdom or encouragement would have helped them during this time, and what they feel is important to share. Topics that can be included would be how to cope with difficult emotions and situations, and how to find happiness and joy at those times. Encourage your client to show themselves kindness and compassion in those letters that they wish they had received during those times. Allow time for the client to share the letter if they feel comfortable doing so, and process this experience for them.

Final Thoughts On Choosing Activities for Narrative Therapy

Thank you for reading this resource on 10 Narrative therapy Exercises and Activities you can do with your clients. The ability to use Narrative Therapy with clients who have a range of mental health and interpersonal concerns makes it an attractive therapeutic approach option. Narrative Therapy activities can help improve a client’s self-esteem and beliefs of themselves. By exploring their values and core beliefs, clients are able to see if their current behaviors align with what matters to them.

If you are interested in learning more about using Narrative Therapy in sessions or utilizing Narrative Therapy exercises, take time to look into continuing education opportunities and other training experiences. Developing a solid understanding of Narrative Therapy’s skills, beliefs, and interventions will allow you to develop your competency to practice Narrative Therapy within your counseling relationships.

TherapyByPro is an online mental health directory that connects mental health pros with clients in need. If you’re a mental health professional, you can Join our community and add your practice listing here . We have assessments, practice forms, and worksheet templates mental health professionals can use to streamline their practice. View all of our mental health worksheets here .

Denborough, D., & White, C. (2007, November). Collective narrative practices . Narrative Therapy Centre. Retrieved March 9, 2023, from https://narrativetherapycentre.com/collective-narrative-practices/
Seligman, L., & Reichenberg, L. W. (2010). Narrative Therapy. In Theories of Counseling and Psychotherapy: Systems, Strategies, and Skills (3rd ed., pp. 220–225). essay, Pearson Education, Inc.

Author: Kayla Loibl, MA, LMHC

Kayla is a Mental Health Counselor who earned her degree from Niagara University in Lewiston, New York. She has provided psychotherapy in a residential treatment program and an outpatient addiction treatment facility in New York as well as an inpatient addiction rehab in Ontario, Canada. She has experience working with individuals living with a variety of mental health concerns including depression , anxiety, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder , and trauma.

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Life Story Worksheet: The Present, Past, and Future

The Happier Therapy editorial team is made up of Masters and PhD counselling psychologists. Each worksheet is created by a team member with exposure to and experience in the subject matter. The worksheet then gets reviewed by a more senior editorial member. This is someone with extensive knowledge of the subject matter and highly cited published material.

What is the theory behind the Life Story Worksheet?

The Life story worksheet is based on narrative therapy. In narrative therapy , the focus is to contribute to insight and assign meaning to your past experiences which results in self-fulfillment and happiness. It changes our way of thinking, our perceptions, opinions, and future actions.

How will this worksheet help you?

This worksheet will help you in giving deep meaning to your experiences by writing about them. You will be able to identify your strengths that helped you in facing life challenges and it will prepare you to move further in your life with more confidence. It also allows you to focus on your strengths and promote well-being.

How to use this worksheet?

This worksheet only needs a relaxed space, a pen, and a printed form of this worksheet. You need to mindfully write about your experiences, your current life challenges, and your future plans. Be very honest with your strengths and at the end of the worksheet, appreciate yourself for being so strong to go through all those life challenges successfully.

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Etherington, Kim. (2009). Life story research: A relevant methodology for counsellors and psychotherapists. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research. 9. 225-233.

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Narrative Therapy & Re-Creating Life Chapters

Developed by two social workers, Michael White (Australia) and David Epston (New Zealand), narrative therapy is a systemic approach to counselling that emphasizes historical influences, and experiences with culture and family as they impact life experiences and problems. It is an approach that shifts the focus from how people have problems to how problems come to dominate people’s sense of who they are (1). This approach also recognizes that problems can become saturated and entrenched in our daily lives (1). In light of this, narrative work often begins with externalizing conversations with efforts to re-conceptualize the problem as separate from the person (1).

The central goal of narrative therapy is to reduce stress levels, which is known as “ the burden ”. The outcome, or where the client wishes “to go” to function more happily or effectively is often a place where they have a manageable workload, resolution or comfort levels with work tensions, as well as more joy, connection, and satisfaction with relationships, and so on. Counselling objectives, then, generally involve externalizing the problem by examining the narratives within it to map and re-story a more desirable future (1).

How it Works

Recognizing the power of words, alternative stories are constructed to re-shape client narratives from victim to survivor (1). For example, one approach to externalizing the conversation uses recordings that are translated into scripts and then mapped onto paper to help reconstruct new narratives. Paper, pens, paint, photo-voice and other creative arts tools are used in this process. The client is highly engaged in this interactive process!

The narrative therapist approaches the counselling process by co-constructing with the client this new third space or third agency , which is a dynamic and living linguistic space where new insights are performed and enacted (2). This is also where words and body language exist in webs of meaning, and therapeutic understanding involves empathy and reflecting back (2). In this space, the counsellor also analyzes power relations, continuously checks for assumptions, and is aware of client agency (e.g., capacity for action) (2).

The use of metaphor to externalize or name the problem is also often used in narrative therapy (1). For example, the client names the problem (e.g., as mentioned above, the burden ) and, with the counsellor, maps the influence of the problem (e.g., noticing when the problem visits, what its presence feels like, what the problem wants and is saying). As well, it may be helpful to consider when the problem first occurred, when it is most difficult to handle, and its movement or connections to other areas, such as work or relationships.

Each of these techniques can help the client map out the sources of the problem, as they commonly stem from multiple sources. In this way, with a holistic and visual representation of the problem, links between the problem sources can be explored. Empowered by this awareness, new insights begin to emerge. Ultimately, the client will determine if this approach successfully helps to alleviate the burden and create movement toward their desired end goals.

1. White, M., & Epston, D. (1990). Narrative means to therapeutic ends. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.

2. Arvay, M. (2002). Talk as action: A narrative approach to action theory. Canadian Journal of Counselling, 36 (2). 113-120.

Other Resources

Dulwich Centre, Australia. (2018). What is narrative therapy? Retrieved from https://dulwichcentre.com.au/what-is-narrative-therapy/

Ostrander, C. (2017). The chasing of tales: Poetic licence with the written word in narrative practice. The International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work, 2, 55-62.

Positive Psychology Program. (2018). Narrative therapy . Retrieved from https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/narrative-therapy/#what-narrative-therapy

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Are you looking to explore the power of your own narrative, discover new perspectives on your life’s story, and create meaningful change? Narrative therapy offers you a unique and empowering journey towards personal growth and healing. Through this therapeutic approach, you’ll have the opportunity to rewrite the chapters of your life, confront challenges, and find new strengths within yourself.

Narrative therapy isn’t just about addressing problems; it’s about reshaping your story in a way that aligns with your values and aspirations. If you’re ready to embark on a transformative path of self-discovery, self-empowerment, and positive change, narrative therapy could be the next step in your journey towards a more fulfilling life.

Find a therapist.

What is narrative therapy.

Narrative therapy is a type of psychotherapy that emphasizes the power of storytelling to help individuals better understand and cope with their problems. This approach views people as active agents in constructing their own life stories, and believes that problems arise when individuals become stuck in negative or limiting narratives. Narrative therapy aims to help clients rewrite their life stories in ways that empower them and allow them to see their problems in a new light.

Narrative therapy was developed in the 1980s by Australian psychologists Michael White and David Epston. They were influenced by the work of philosopher Michel Foucault, who emphasized the power of language and discourse in shaping our perceptions of reality.

White and Epston observed that traditional therapy approaches often pathologized individuals by focusing on their problems and deficits. They believed that by helping clients to change the way they talked about their experiences, they could help them to shift their perspectives and find new ways of coping.

They developed the concept of “externalizing” problems, which involves separating the person from the problem in order to view it objectively. This approach allows clients to see their problems as separate from themselves and to take a more active role in reshaping their narratives.

Over time, narrative therapy has evolved and expanded to include different techniques and applications, such as using writing and other creative forms of expression to explore and reshape narratives.

How Does Narrative Therapy Work?

In a narrative therapy session, the therapist and client work together to explore the client’s life story and the narratives they have constructed about themselves, their experiences, and their relationships. The therapist creates a safe and non-judgmental space for the client to share their experiences and feelings.

The therapist may ask open-ended questions and use reflective listening to help the client examine their stories and identify patterns and themes. The therapist may also use techniques such as externalizing the problem, re-authoring the story, and deconstructing dominant narratives.

Externalizing the problem

Externalizing the problem involves separating the person from the problem, and viewing the problem as something external to the client. This allows the client to see the problem as something that can be addressed and changed, rather than something that is part of their identity.

Re-authoring the story

Re-authoring the story involves helping the client to construct a new, more empowering narrative that better reflects their strengths, values, and aspirations. This may involve identifying alternative perspectives and exploring the client’s hopes and dreams for the future.

Deconstructing dominant narratives

Deconstructing dominant narratives involves challenging the cultural and societal narratives that may be influencing the client’s perceptions of themselves and their experiences. This may involve exploring issues of power, privilege, and social justice.

Overall, the goal of narrative therapy is to help the client develop a new, more empowering narrative that allows them to view their experiences and challenges in a new light, and to take more active control of their lives. The therapist and client work collaboratively to co-create this new narrative, and the client is encouraged to take an active role in shaping their own story.

What Are The Benefits of Narrative Therapy?

As with any type of therapy, there are many benefits to narrative therapy. These include:

Empowerment

Narrative therapy focuses on the client’s strengths, values, and aspirations, helping them to feel more empowered and in control of their own lives.

Increased self-awareness

Narrative therapy encourages clients to reflect on their experiences and explore their beliefs and values, leading to increased self-awareness and a deeper understanding of themselves.

Improved coping skills

By helping clients to reframe their experiences and develop more positive narratives, narrative therapy can improve their ability to cope with challenging situations and emotions.

Deeper relationships

Narrative therapy can also help clients to improve their relationships with others by providing a new framework for understanding themselves and their interactions with others.

Cultural sensitivity

Narrative therapy is sensitive to cultural and social contexts, recognizing the impact of cultural and societal narratives on individuals’ experiences and identities.

Long-lasting effects

Narrative therapy can have long-lasting effects beyond the therapy session, as clients continue to use the techniques and insights gained in therapy in their daily lives.

Flexibility

Narrative therapy is a flexible approach that can be adapted to different clients, issues, and cultures. It can be used with individuals, couples, families, and groups, and can be integrated with other therapeutic approaches.

Holistic approach

Narrative therapy takes a holistic approach to healing, recognizing the interconnectedness of different aspects of a person’s life and addressing emotional, cognitive, and behavioral aspects of their experiences.

Non-judgmental

Narrative therapy provides a non-judgmental and safe space for clients to explore their experiences and emotions, without feeling stigmatized or pathologized.

Focus on agency

Narrative therapy emphasizes the agency and resilience of individuals, helping them to take an active role in shaping their own narratives and finding solutions to their problems.

Positive outlook

Narrative therapy fosters a positive outlook by encouraging clients to focus on their strengths, resources, and aspirations, rather than their deficits and limitations.

Empathy and connection

Narrative therapy promotes empathy and connection between the therapist and client, as well as between the client and their support network. This can lead to increased social support and a sense of belonging.

What Does Narrative Therapy Help People With?

You might utilize narrative therapy to assist you with a variety of different challenges and conditions including:

Depression and anxiety

Narrative therapy can help clients to reframe negative or limiting narratives about themselves and their experiences, and to develop more positive and empowering narratives. This can improve their mood, reduce their symptoms of depression and anxiety, and increase their resilience.

Trauma and PTSD

Narrative therapy can help clients to externalize traumatic events and view them as separate from their identity, which can reduce feelings of shame, guilt, and self-blame. It can also help clients to re-author their trauma narratives in a way that is more empowering and allows them to regain a sense of control over their lives.

Addiction and substance abuse

Narrative therapy can help clients to explore the underlying narratives and beliefs that contribute to their addiction or substance abuse, and to develop more positive and empowering narratives that support their recovery.

Eating disorders

Narrative therapy can help clients to explore the underlying narratives and beliefs that contribute to their eating disorder, and to develop more positive and empowering narratives that support their recovery.

Relationship problems

Narrative therapy can help clients to explore the narratives that shape their relationships with others, and to identify patterns and themes that may be contributing to their problems. It can also help clients to develop more positive and empowering narratives about themselves and their relationships.

Identity issues

Narrative therapy can help clients to explore their identity narratives, and to identify any limiting or negative beliefs that may be holding them back. It can also help clients to develop more positive and empowering narratives about themselves and their identities.

Grief and loss

Narrative therapy can help clients to re-author their narratives about their loss or grief, and to find meaning and purpose in their experiences.

Self-esteem and self-worth issues

Narrative therapy can help clients to reframe negative or limiting narratives about themselves, and to develop more positive and empowering narratives that support their self-esteem and self-worth.

Family conflict and communication problems

Narrative therapy can help clients to explore the narratives that shape their family dynamics, and to identify patterns and themes that may be contributing to their conflicts or communication problems. It can also help clients to develop more positive and empowering narratives about their family relationships.

LGBTQ+ issues and discrimination

Narrative therapy can help clients to explore the narratives that shape their experiences as an LGBTQ+ individual, and to identify any negative or limiting beliefs that may be contributing to their distress. It can also help clients to develop more positive and empowering narratives about their identity and experiences.

Workplace and career-related stress

Narrative therapy can help clients to explore the narratives that shape their experiences in the workplace, and to identify any negative or limiting beliefs that may be contributing to their stress. It can also help clients to develop more positive and empowering narratives about their career goals and aspirations.

Cultural and social issues

Narrative therapy can help clients to explore the narratives that shape their experiences within their cultural or social context, and to identify any negative or limiting beliefs that may be contributing to their distress. It can also help clients to develop more positive and empowering narratives about their cultural identity and experiences.

Narrative Therapy and Other Types of Therapy

Narrative therapy can be used in conjunction with other types of therapy to provide a more comprehensive and integrated approach to treatment. Here are some examples of how narrative therapy can be combined with other therapeutic approaches:

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)

Narrative therapy can be used to help clients identify and reframe negative or limiting thought patterns that contribute to their distress, while CBT can help clients to develop new coping strategies and behaviors to support their recovery.

For example, combining CBT with narrative therapy helps individuals with depression identify and challenge distorted thought patterns while simultaneously reshaping negative self-narratives, leading to improved mood and self-perception.

Mindfulness-based therapy

Narrative therapy can be used to help clients explore their thoughts and emotions in a non-judgmental way, while mindfulness-based therapy can help clients to develop skills to regulate their emotions and reduce their symptoms of distress.

For example, when combined with mindfulness-based therapy, narrative therapy aids individuals in exploring their anxious thoughts non-judgmentally, promoting self-awareness and effective emotion management.

Psychodynamic therapy

Narrative therapy can be used to help clients explore their early life experiences and how they have shaped their current narratives and beliefs, while psychodynamic therapy can help clients to gain insight into unconscious patterns and dynamics that contribute to their distress.

For example, integrating psychodynamic therapy with narrative therapy allows trauma survivors to delve into unconscious conflicts and trauma narratives, facilitating a deeper understanding and healing of past experiences.

Expressive therapies

Narrative therapy can be combined with expressive therapies such as art therapy or music therapy to help clients express themselves in a nonverbal way and explore their emotions and experiences through creative expression. For example, art therapy combined with narrative therapy allows individuals to express and process grief non-verbally, aiding in the reconstruction of narratives surrounding loss and healing.

Family therapy

Narrative therapy can be used to help family members explore their family narratives and dynamics, while family therapy can help them to develop new communication and problem-solving skills to improve their relationships.

Narrative therapy enriched by family therapy helps families address and reconstruct collective narratives, fostering improved communication and healthier relationship dynamics.

Solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT)

SFBT can be used to help clients identify and amplify their existing strengths and resources, while narrative therapy can help clients to reframe their problems and develop more positive and empowering narratives.

For example, pairing solution-focused brief therapy with narrative therapy encourages individuals to identify and amplify their strengths while reframing self-narratives, leading to increased self-esteem and confidence.

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)

DBT can be used to help clients develop skills to regulate their emotions and tolerate distress, while narrative therapy can help clients to explore the underlying narratives and beliefs that contribute to their emotional dysregulation.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

EMDR can be used to help clients process traumatic experiences and reduce their symptoms of distress, while narrative therapy can help clients to re-author their trauma narratives and develop a more positive and empowering narrative about their experiences.

Gestalt therapy

Gestalt therapy can be used to help clients increase their self-awareness and explore their emotions and experiences in the present moment, while narrative therapy can help clients to re-author their stories and find new meaning and purpose in their experiences.

Integrating Gestalt therapy with narrative therapy promotes self-awareness in the present moment and empowers individuals to re-author their stories, unlocking new meaning and purpose in their experiences.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

ACT can be used to help clients accept their thoughts and emotions without judgment, and to commit to values-based action, while narrative therapy can help clients to explore their values and beliefs and develop a more positive and empowering narrative about their lives.

For example, when combined with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), narrative therapy helps individuals explore values and beliefs while developing empowering narratives, enhancing authenticity and self-acceptance.

Somatic therapy

Combining narrative therapy with somatic therapy can provide clients with a more holistic approach to healing, addressing both the cognitive and physical aspects of their experiences. It can also help clients to develop a deeper understanding of the connections between their bodies, minds, and emotions, and to access new insights and perspectives about their experiences. For example, this can assist with emotional coping in the face of chronic conditions.

Couples therapy

In couples therapy, narrative therapy can help couples to identify and challenge negative or limiting narratives that may be contributing to their conflicts, and to develop more positive and empowering narratives that support their relationship.

Next Steps: Ready for Narrative Therapy?

Are you looking to work with a professional in narrative therapy? You can contact us today for a consultation.

Alternatively, browse our therapist directory to find the therapist who is right for you. You can use the dropdown boxes in the directory to filter for therapists who work with narrative therapy under the “how we help” category.

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Rekindle Wellness Psychiatric Centre

10 narrative therapy exercises and techniques.

Dr. Nitin Kumar Gupta

10 Engaging Narrative Therapy Exercises & Activities for Your Clients

10 Narrative Therapy Exercises & Activities to do with your Clients

Introduction

Narrative therapy is a therapeutic approach that focuses on helping clients explore and re-author their personal stories. By examining the narratives that shape their lives, individuals can gain a better understanding of their experiences, emotions, and relationships. This process can lead to personal growth, improved mental health , and a greater sense of well-being. In this article, we will discuss 10 engaging narrative therapy exercises and activities that can be used with clients at Rekindle Wellness Psychiatric and Deaddiction Centre in West Bengal, India, or any other mental health facility.

1. Externalizing Conversations

Externalizing conversations help clients separate themselves from their problems, allowing them to view their issues from a different perspective. This can be achieved by:

Asking clients to give their problem a name
Encouraging clients to describe the problem as if it were a separate entity
Exploring the effects of the problem on the client’s life

2. Mapping the Influence of the Problem

Once the problem has been externalized, clients can begin to map the influence of the problem on their lives. This involves:

Identifying the various areas of life affected by the problem
Exploring the impact of the problem on relationships, emotions, and daily activities
Discussing the client’s beliefs and values that may be challenged by the problem

3. Identifying Unique Outcomes

Unique outcomes are moments when clients have successfully resisted the influence of the problem. Identifying these instances can help clients recognize their strengths and abilities. To do this, therapists can:

Ask clients to recall specific times when they overcame the problem
Explore the strategies and resources used during these moments
Discuss how these unique outcomes can be used to create a new narrative

4. Re-authoring Conversations

Re-authoring conversations involve helping clients create a new narrative that emphasizes their strengths, values, and unique outcomes. This can be achieved by:

Encouraging clients to reflect on their preferred identity
Asking clients to describe their hopes, dreams, and values
Helping clients identify the steps they can take to move towards their preferred narrative

5. Letter Writing

Letter writing is a powerful narrative therapy tool that allows clients to express their thoughts and feelings in a tangible way. Clients can write letters to:

The problem, expressing their feelings and intentions to overcome it
Themselves, offering encouragement and support
Significant others, sharing their new narrative and asking for support

6. Therapeutic Documents

Therapeutic documents are written records of the client’s progress and achievements. These can include:

Session summaries, highlighting key insights and unique outcomes
Letters of support from friends and family
Personal reflections and journal entries

7. Life Timeline

Creating a life timeline can help clients visualize their personal narrative and identify patterns, themes, and turning points. Clients can:

Plot significant events and experiences on a timeline
Reflect on the impact of these events on their narrative
Identify opportunities for change and growth

8. Narrative Collage

A narrative collage is a visual representation of the client’s personal story. Clients can create a collage using:

Images, symbols, and words that represent their experiences and emotions
Art materials such as magazines, photographs, and drawing tools
A large piece of paper or canvas to arrange and display their collage

9. Group Narrative Therapy

Group narrative therapy allows clients to share their stories and learn from the experiences of others. This can be facilitated through:

Group discussions and storytelling exercises
Collaborative problem-solving activities
Shared letter writing and therapeutic document creation

10. Digital Storytelling

Digital storytelling involves using technology to create and share personal narratives. Clients can:

Record their stories using audio or video equipment
Create digital collages or slideshows using images and text
Share their stories online or with a supportive community

Narrative therapy exercises and activities offer clients the opportunity to explore, understand, and re-author their personal stories. By engaging in these activities, clients can gain a greater sense of control over their lives, develop a more positive self-image, and build stronger relationships with others. Whether used individually or in combination, these 10 narrative therapy exercises can be powerful tools for promoting personal growth and well-being at Rekindle Wellness Psychiatric and Deaddiction Centre or any other mental health facility.

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Trauma-Informed Pedagogies

Trauma-informed pedagogy of courage, connection, and celebration: using the narrative exercise of the “tree of life”.

AHyun Lee, Indiana Wesley University

illustration of a group of masked people

In this article, I focus on the narrative exercise of the “tree of life,” which I facilitate in the course “Pastoral Care and Counseling in Intercultural Contexts.” This course is offered for students who seek their career as a pastoral caregiver, a pastoral counselor, or as a professional clinical counselor. This course has learning objectives that acknowledge human experiences cannot be separated from cultural, historical, and intergenerational trauma because of wars, colonialization, slavery, immigration, etc. At the same time, this classroom becomes the experimental space of self-awareness, where students acknowledge how they have been influenced by their trauma. Students develop an individual cultural competency to engage with empathic listening and a caring presence to the complexity of trauma of each human person's unique blend of race, class, gender, age, spirituality, religious belief, ability, sexual orientation, life experience, national/regional identity, and power differential.

Learning and teaching intercultural pastoral care and counseling is the ongoing reflective process of forming and reforming who a pastoral caregiver is with people in the time of crisis and trauma. My relationship with students often becomes a hypothetical therapeutic relationship where we both seek healing, growth, and transformation by realizing individual and collective trauma and resisting re-traumatization, and by responding and recognizing the presence of strength and resilience.

Teaching Strategy

I design my course of intercultural pastoral care and counseling based on a trauma-informed pedagogical approach with three key values: courage, connection, and celebration.

Creating a safe space is essential preparation. My teaching strategy begins with deconstructing the myth of the classroom as a safe space and promoting the safe space as a brave space. It involves a movement from being secure to vulnerable, protected or guarded to curious, and persuasive or intellectual to ambiguous and emotional. Students need to be open and decide to create a safe space with courage; the classroom becomes a brave space where they hold each other's scars and wounds while creating a safe learning community. It becomes the foundation where students can explore the prevalence of trauma individually and collectively and empower the presence of strength and resilience. I invite students to join in reading the poem "An Invitation to Brave Space," by Micky ScottBey Jones at the end of the first class. 1 This activity helps students prepare to open themselves and increase their ability for self-regulation and self-efficacy.

Based on the shared commitment to creating a safe space with courage, I invite students to experience the connection in small- or whole-group discussions where students develop their listening skills. The discussions in this course include difficult topics such as racism, the objectification of women's bodies, intersectionality, whiteness, or interconnected oppression. For example, the discussion about race can allow students to share their experiences with race, racial identity, and ethnicity and understand why racism is a traumatic experience. Students can learn how to listen and to be listened to by sharing their experiences and appreciating the raw emotions of others. Rather than suppressing anger, listening practices in the discussion allow students to embrace raw emotions when they come up, address the psychological significance to be aware of those emotions, and to connect to each other by sharing unifying and liberating experiences.

Each listening practice becomes a powerful way to connect with the traumatic experiences of others and build up the learning community. It provides opportunities for students to form individual and collective wisdom to regulate stress by narrating their traumatic experiences and by recognizing different coping skills while fostering support systems with classmates. Students experience the acceptance with nonjudgement and without prejudice or bias by intentionally creating a safe space with courage. They increase the sense of community and relational connection. Listening practices in small and group discussions become a small trauma-informed care community where students practice collaboration and develop their resilience from trauma through relational connections and a sense of belonging toward inner and collective growth.

I have found students experience solidarity and bonding as a result of this exercise. Students begin to understand themselves as allies and advocates for each other. They learn to recognize how people bring their strength and resilience into the pastoral care relationship and not to pathologize people with the problem-based assessment. They also put knowledge and theoretical concepts of cultural studies into counseling practices by engaging in courageous cultural conversations. Further, they begin to resist problematic narratives of retraumatization by drawing from cultural resiliency and connecting to the collective healing wisdom of each other.

Then, a trauma-informed pedagogy shouldn't dismiss the importance of celebration. A teacher and students need to affirm and appreciate that they have worked together to build the learning community. This leads students to increase their growth and capacity to understand themselves in positive ways. Also, their collaboration and empowerment within the learning community needs to be celebrated in the classroom. It is crucial to have visual documentation of celebrations for people who recovered from traumatic experiences and restored their sense of self by improving their health, wellness, and flourishing with their strengths and resilience.

I use the narrative exercise of the “tree of life” to create the visual documents for celebration. This exercise is to honor students' collaborative works building up the learning community in the last class. This exercise reaffirms the student's voice, choice, and agency for resisting and responding to trauma in intercultural contexts. At the same time, students share their future accountability extending their works as a pastoral caregiver toward social justice for the community. They share the commitment of empowerment and collaboration.

Here is the guideline for this class activity with the “tree of life.” Imagine drawing a picture of a large tree. This visual metaphor of a tree represents the individual's life and the various elements that make it up—past, present, and future throughout this course. It includes the roots, the ground, tree trunk, branches, leaves, fruit or flowers, and storms or bugs. Each student draws their tree based on this guideline about where they have grown and transformed.

Roots are a metaphor for where you are from, who impacted your choice to take this course, when you decided to be a pastoral counselor, etc.
The ground is a metaphor for writing on the course topics and concepts for each lesson.
The trunk symbolizes your skills and abilities as a pastoral caregiver. You write the values at the base of the trunk going up, transitioning into listing your skills with cultural competency learned through the course. This illustrates the growth as a pastoral caregiver in intercultural context during the course from roots to values to skills.
Branches represent your hope. In the course introduction, you shared the reason you chose this course. At the end of this course, you list your learning outcomes, which give a glimpse of what you have learned and achieved.
Leaves symbolize who helps you grow and what comments or feedback inspired your learning process.
Fruits or flowers reflect the specific next step you are planning to take as a result of this course.
Storms or bugs illustrate the moments you feel intense or uncomfortable and what have you taken and reflected on from those moments.

Each student draws their tree of life before the last class and brings it back to the class. There, students share their stories of the process of learning, the learning achievement, and the next steps they take from the course. Then, the trees the students drew are displayed on the board. After all the students have completed the exercise, there are many trees that illustrate a forest symbolizing the learning community.

In the virtual setting, a teacher can use different approaches. One way is to use a Prezi program. I ask to upload them to the online course systems. Then, I collect and use a Prezi program which is effective in visualizing each tree and all trees like a forest. The other is to use a Zoom setting. Each student shares their tree drawing on the screen, and all students show their trees on the screen and take a group picture with all trees.

This class exercise helps a teacher to offer trauma-informed care, which allows students to exercise and regain their strengths and agency to choose which story they like to share while creating a learning narrative in the present. This exercise provides the safe place with courage where they can talk about their struggles and pains, and where they are not retraumatized, but rather feel connected, healed, and empowered as the author of their stories for recovery and transformation.

Background and Theory

There are two reasons I chose the narrative exercise of the tree of life for trauma-informed teaching and learning in theological education and religious studies. First, this narrative exercise has proved useful and helpful to provide trauma-informed care and is used in a wide range of countries across Africa, and also in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Russia, Nepal, the United States, and elsewhere. The narrative exercise of the tree of life 2 was co-created through a partnership between REPSSI in Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Dulwich Centre Foundation in Adelaide, Australia. 3 It is grounded on the narrative therapy theory developed by David Denborough and Michael White at Dulwich Centre Foundation. Ncazelo Ncube, a child psychologist, and David Denborough, one of the founders of narrative therapy theory, initially develop this tree of life exercise. The purpose of this exercise is to help colleagues who work with children who are affected by HIV/AIDS and experienced the traumatic loss of their parents.

This exercise has served various populations in many different contexts, including people with traumatic experiences of immigration or refugee status; children within Indigenous communities; communities that suffered natural disasters; young people who have been expelled from school; and children who have been subject to domestic violence, neglect, physical or emotional abuse within their families.

Secondly, narrative therapy theory places emphasis on strength and the agency of people's stories, not focusing on the problem. It underlines how people tell their stories and whose stories shape people's identity. Through making a choice which story a person likes to share, they experience a sense of agency to resist retraumatizing experiences. A narrative therapeutic approach helps students externalize their problems, not only their inner struggles but also the outside structural and cultural challenges. People seek to create their preferred stories about themselves and find the meaning and value of their stories. People are the experts of their own life stories and hae the agency to lead to positive change and transformation.

The narrative therapeutic approach emphasizes the process of meaning-making and creating alternative narratives with positive change. It relies on the value of who a person is and what a person wants to become. When a person experiences trauma and feels disempowered by the threat of trauma, they engage in emotional, behavioral, cognitive, developmental, and social/interpersonal survival psychological reactions. Traumatic stress and anxiety bring a sense of loss, including a loss of agency, a loss of relational intimacy, a loss of social functions, a loss of a profound sense of power, etc. Prolonged traumatic experiences increase the risk of mental health issues. It affects the sense of being, the sense of others, and the sense of the community and the world. The narrative exercise, a tree of life, is used to restore a more accurate and positive self-narrative. Students create a positive future picture of themselves and their relationship with others. Also, it affirms a communal narrative with collective wisdom as a support system in the learning community. It can be modified to any general education course, not only for PhD students who work at integrating theoretical research and cultural anthropology, but for an undergraduate who wants to improve their health and wellness, live their life with agency, and flourish with their full potentiality.

Conclusions and Extensions

In sum, a trauma-informed pedagogical approach with the tree of life exercise is about underlining three core values of courage, connection, and celebration. Creating a safe space with courage is the foundation for recognizing the signs and symptoms of trauma, regulating stress and anxiety and resisting retraumatization. So, students and a professor can navigate the process of recovery and healing by learning from and with each other. A trauma-informed pedagogical approach is about restoring and recovering relational connections. Having a sense of connection leads students to learn different coping skills from each other and establish support systems as the resources of the collective wisdom. Lastly, a trauma-informed pedagogy shouldn't dismiss the importance of celebration. A teacher and students need to affirm and appreciate that they have worked together to build the learning community. This leads students to increase their growth and capacity to understand themselves in positive ways. Also, celebration reveals their collaboration and empowerment.

A trauma-informed pedagogy helps students to extend their identity by becoming allies and advocates for each other, empowering people by enhancing an agency toward cultural and social transformation for social justice and collaborating to remove barriers and promoting accessibility to resources and power with choices. When a teacher and students appreciate a trauma-informed learning process, the classroom becomes sacred where students and I experience mutuality with a sense of dignity and equity as we engage each one’s trauma with the radical action of love through listening to and being listened to, and learning from and with each other for healing while transforming ourselves, others, and the community.

1 Micky ScottBey Jones & The People’s Supper Samily, Collective Care in the Face of Violent Trauma , June 2017, 6, https://episcopalchurch.org/files/documents/collective_care.pdf .

2 David Denborough, Collective Narrative Practice: Responding to Individuals, Groups, and Communities Who have Experienced Trauma (Adelaide: Dulwich Centre Publications, 2008), 71–98.

3 Regional Psychosocial Support Initiatives (REPSSI), https://repssi.org/ .

Select Recommended Resources

Brunzell, Tom, Helen Stokes, and Lea Waters. "Shifting Teacher Practice in Trauma-Affected Classrooms: Practice Pedagogy Strategies Within a Trauma-Informed Positive Education Model." School Mental Health 11 (2018): 600–614. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-018-09308-8

Minahan, Jessica. "Trauma-Informed Teaching Strategies, Making School a Safe Place," Educational Leadership 77, no. 2 (October 2019): 30–35. http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/oct19/vol77/num02/Trauma-Informed_Teaching_Strategies.aspx .

Morgan, Ann, Donna Pendergast, Raymond Brown, and Deborah Heck. "Relational Ways of Being an Educator: Trauma-Informed Practice Supporting Disenfranchised Young People." International Journal of Inclusive Education 19, no. 10 (2015): 1037–1051.

Fallot, Roger D., and Maxine Harris. Creating Cultures of Trauma-Informed Care. Community Connections, Inc, 2009.

Whitington, Victoria, and Elspeth McInnes. "Developing a 'Classroom as Community' Approach to Supporting Young Children's Wellbeing." Australasian Journal of Early Childhood 42, no. 4 (December 2017): 21–29. https://doi.org/10.23965/AJEC.42.4.03 .

Editor's Introduction Jessica L. Tinklenberg

What is Trauma? What is a Trauma-Informed Approach? Darryl W. Stephens

Gender-Based Violence and Muslim Communities: Trauma Processing through Art Juliane Hammer

Addressing Race in the Classroom: A Trauma-Informed Communal Embodied Practice Leah Thomas

We Have to Tell the Truth: A Liberative Approach to Trauma-Informed Pedagogy Oluwatomisin Oredein

Passing by/through/in Written Word Alexiana Fry

Getting Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable: Reflections on Running and Teaching Elisabeth T. Vasko

Trauma-Informed Pedagogy of Courage, Connection, and Celebration: Using the Narrative Exercise of the “Tree of Life” AHyun Lee

Fostering Collaboration and Agency in an Antiracist, Trauma-Informed Classroom: Creating Community-Learning Agreements through Reflective Practice Ryan Rideau

Breathing | Being | Praying Meditations: The Generative Possibilities of the Arts Yohana Agra Junker

Critical Reflection Ensuing from Traumatic Events and Ideology Critique Ella Johnson

In Defense of the Simple Writing Assignment Liora Gubkin

Compiled Suggested Resources

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Narrative Therapy Life Story and Tree of Life for Trauma
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Narrative Therapy Project: Tree of Life
Tree of Life Worksheets Narrative Therapy Group Therapy

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Personal Narrative Speech Assignment
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Narrative Speech (Public Speaking)
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Narrative Therapy Theory Part 1 SCW9X12
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COMMENTS

19 Best Narrative Therapy Techniques & Worksheets [+PDF]
White and Epston grounded this new therapeutic model in three main ideas. 1. Narrative therapy is respectful. This therapy respects the agency and dignity of every client. It requires each client to be treated as an individual who is not deficient, not defective, or not "enough" in any way.
PDF My Life Story
My Life Story 1. Write your Book Title below: 2. Write out a minimum of seven Life Chapter Titles below that represent significant life stages and events. For each Chapter, write out one line to describe the Life Chapter (i.e., 1. Life at the Zoo - My family life was always full of excitement when I was growing up as the youngest of six kids ...
PDF TEN LIFE NARRATIVE EXERCISES
i. Peak experience: The high point in your life story. ii. Nadir experience: The lowest point in your life story. iii. Turning point: An episode in which you, your life, underwent significant change. iv. Earliest memory: One of the earliest memories you have of an event that is complete with setting, scene, characters, feelings and thoughts.
10 Narrative Therapy Activities & Exercises to do with Clients in
Collaborative Approach: Narrative Therapy is collaborative, with therapists and clients working together to explore and co-author new, more constructive narratives. Focus on Strengths and Resources: It emphasizes clients' strengths, resources, and resilience, helping them recognize their capacity for change and growth.
7 Narrative Therapy Worksheets (+ A complete guide)
Narrative therapy is a non-blaming, interactive and playful approach. This kind of psychotherapy is helpful for clients who feel their counselors are unable to recognize their needs and help them deal with their issues. Narrative therapy is helpful for children as well. It is helpful for individuals who are facing difficulties in their lives.
PDF River of Life Exercise
Reflect on your life's journey and trajectory. Using words and/ or symbols, place life events in the appropriate locations on your diagram. • Are there times of significant pain or suffering — yours or others' — that shape the flow of your life river? • What was going on in the world — locally, regionally, or around
Life Story
This worksheet was inspired by positive psychology, but also has elements of narrative and art therapies. During this activity, you will ask your clients to write a life story in three parts: the past, present and future. In positive psychology, life stories are used to help clients develop a sense of meaning, which has been found to contribute ...
10 Narrative Therapy Exercises & Activities to do with your Clients
Here is an example list of Narrative Therapy exercises that can be used during Narrative Therapy Sessions: Work with your client as they work to write their life story. This can include important experiences in their past, their current life experiences, and what they are working towards for their future. This exercise can help clients gain new ...
Life Story Worksheet: The Present, Past, and Future
The Life story worksheet is based on narrative therapy. In narrative therapy, the focus is to contribute to insight and assign meaning to your past experiences which results in self-fulfillment and happiness. It changes our way of thinking, our perceptions, opinions, and future actions.
PDF Solution FocuSed narrative therapy
important in your life that you have put the habit out of your life? 2. What else? 3. What else? 4. What else? 5. What difference would putting the habit out of your life, just that day, make to you? 6. What difference would it make to others in your life? Enjoy the description of your habit-free day. And, tomorrow, try out just one or two very
Life Story: Past, Present, and Future
Writing a story about your life can help you ﬁnd meaning and value in your experiences. It will allow you to organize your thoughts and use them to grow. People who develop stories about their life tend to experience a greater sense of meaning, which can contribute to happiness. The Past . Write the story of your past.
Use Narrative Therapy To Revise Your Real Life Story
A narrative therapy technique that can help highlight these patterns is writing your life story. Step one. ... Write the final chapter, a description of your life in the future. It might be one year or ten years in the future, you select the timeline that best meets your needs. This chapter should be longer and more comprehensive than the ...
Narrative Therapy & Re-Creating Life Chapters
Developed by two social workers, Michael White (Australia) and David Epston (New Zealand), narrative therapy is a systemic approach to counselling that emphasizes historical influences, and experiences with culture and family as they impact life experiences and problems. It is an approach that shifts the focus from how people have problems to how problems come to dominate people's sense of ...
Trauma Narratives
With enough exposure, memories of trauma lose their emotional power. In this guide, we'll be exploring a single exposure technique called the trauma narrative. The trauma narrative is a powerful technique that allows survivors of trauma to confront and overcome their painful memories through storytelling.
Narrative Therapy
Narrative therapy is a type of psychotherapy that emphasizes the power of storytelling to help individuals better understand and cope with their problems. This approach views people as active agents in constructing their own life stories, and believes that problems arise when individuals become stuck in negative or limiting narratives.
Story Telling Your Life A NARRATIVE THERAPY GUIDE TO CPC
This book describes the clinical application of the growing body of ideas and practices that has come to be known as narrative therapy. The primary focus is on the ways of working that have arisen ...
PDF Working with Themes in Trauma Narrative & Cognitive
Throughout treatment, listen and watch for clues on how trauma has impacted child's (and caregivers) beliefs about self, others, world. Client statements in therapy and at home: Client through initial and on- behaviors/interactions going assessment; in in session - session; through TN - What the child does. What the child says.
Narrative Therapy: Definition, Techniques, & Exercises
Narrative therapy practices were first shared in White & Epston's book Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends, published in 1990, which served as a guide to using "restorying" techniques in family therapy (White & Epston, 1990). ... Another popular tool used in narrative therapy is the "Tree of Life". In this creative exercise, ...
10 Narrative Therapy Exercises and Techniques
10 Engaging Narrative Therapy Exercises & Activities for Your Clients. Introduction. Narrative therapy is a therapeutic approach that focuses on helping clients explore and re-author their personal stories. By examining the narratives that shape their lives, individuals can gain a better understanding of their experiences, emotions, and ...
Narrative Therapy: An Introduction for Counsellors
Introduction. Chapter 1: An Overview of Narrative Therapy. Chapter 2: Ideas Informing Narrative Therapy. Chapter 3: Assisting the Person to Describe the Problem. Chapter 4: Encouraging a Wider Perspective on the Problem. Chapter 5: Asking Questions. Chapter 6: Therapeutic Documents. Chapter 7: Telling and Re-Telling.
PDF Microsoft Word
Turning away from 150 years of psychological thought, narrative therapy is founded on an ideology designed to counter the decontextualized, skin bound, non-relational, individual self (Madigan, 1992, 2011). Instead of being informed by the discourses of psychology and psychiatry, narrative therapy is situated within the disciplines of cultural ...
#132: Strategies You Can Use: Narratives
Teaching story grammar also enhances student comprehension (Paris & Paris, 2007). 3. Identify missing elements. Hayward & Schneider (2000) also found that identifying missing elements in stories yielded improvements in student narratives. Try modeling the story and leave elements off so the student can correct you.
Trauma-Informed Pedagogy of Courage, Connection, and Celebration: Using
The narrative exercise of the tree of life 2 was co-created through a partnership between REPSSI in Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Dulwich Centre Foundation in Adelaide, Australia. 3 It is grounded on the narrative therapy theory developed by David Denborough and Michael White at Dulwich Centre Foundation. Ncazelo Ncube, a child psychologist, and ...

19 Best Narrative Therapy Techniques & Worksheets [+PDF]

This Article Contains:

1. Narrative therapy is respectful.

2. Narrative therapy is non-blaming.

3. Narrative therapy views the client as the expert.

Key Concepts and Approach

1. Telling One’s Story (Putting Together a Narrative)

2. Externalization Technique

3. Deconstruction Technique

4. Unique Outcomes Technique

5. Existentialism

1. Statement of Position Map

2. My Life Story

3. Expressive Arts

Download 3 Free Positive Psychology Exercises (PDF)

Download 3 Free Positive Psychology Tools Pack (PDF)

1. Maps of Narrative Practice – Michael White

2. What is narrative therapy? : An easy-to-read introduction – Alice Morgan

3. Narrative Therapy: The Social Construction of Preferred Realities – Gene Combs and Jill Freedman

17 Top-Rated Positive Psychology Exercises for Practitioners

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How Does Narrative Therapy Work?

Externalizing the problem

Re-authoring the story

Deconstructing dominant narratives

What Are The Benefits of Narrative Therapy?

Empowerment

Increased self-awareness