Narrative Therapy Worksheet

## **What is narrative therapy?** Narrative therapy is a type of therapeutic intervention that helps create the necessary distance between clients and their problems, most especially any self-destructive behaviors that have emerged because of these problems. This distance is important, and narrative therapists and similar mental health professionals can work to teach people how to create this distance between themselves and their problems, so they can learn how to respect themselves in a way where they don't view themselves as bad people, and instead as people who've made mistakes (Psychology Today, 2019). Through the narrative therapy approach to tackling life narratives, a client's problems can be externalized/separated from them. Once they are able to do that, they can examine the problem to the point of deconstruction. By deconstructing this problem, they can take it piece by piece, examining the many components that make up the problem, and develop ways to manage each component one at a time. By focusing directly on each chunk and managing these, they can rewrite "the script" of their current life state and write empowering narratives, alternatives to what they've had before, and lead themselves to an ideal future with great, unique outcomes. New stories to tell themselves, if you will (Ackerman, 2017). This kind of therapy can be used in individual or group settings, and as part of much larger therapeutic programs that utilize various forms of therapy to cover more ground (e.g, art therapies, psychotherapy, etc.). In narrative therapy sessions, the narrative therapist acts as some kind of barrier that separates a client's problems from the client themself. They are there to remind the client of their self-identity, to help them view the different aspects of their life and problems, and teach them how to tackle their thought processes about these problems through techniques and activities. Narrative therapy exercises typically involve writing down one's story relating to a specific problem or experience and exploring how one's current thoughts and behavior patterns define one's narrative. Narrative therapy techniques and activities (e.g., writing therapeutic letters to oneself, scaffolding conversations, re-authoring conversations, etc.). aim to help participants gain insight into themselves and create new perspectives towards situations and experiences in their lives. This can be an effective form of treatment for those struggling with depression, anxiety, trauma, or other mental health issues.

## **What is a Narrative Therapy Worksheet?** A narrative therapy worksheet is a tool that therapists introduce at a certain point during the therapeutic process, usually after teaching them specific concepts, skills, and techniques. They typically come in the form of writing exercises, and they're meant to gauge a person's understanding of what they've been taught. Some worksheets can take the form of a letter-writing exercise where they write letters to family members, friends, lovers, or to themselves; or making an account of the person's life story thus far that also discusses the problems they've been dealing with. Some might be just a simple exercise of examining the problem down to the very last detail once a person learns to distance themself from the problems that have been shaping them/disrupting their life. Some worksheets often involve various activities such as writing stories about how certain events or problems have impacted them; discussing ways to re-frame those challenging experiences into more positive ones; reflecting on the power of language in shaping our identity; and brainstorming strategies for positive change. By incorporating such worksheets into the therapeutic program, people can gain greater self-awareness and develop healthier perspectives, which ultimately help them move forward more productively. ### **Why should I use this for my work?** Such worksheets can help you understand a client's story more deeply by mapping out the details of their experience in a visual way. This allows you, the therapist, to draw connections between events or identify patterns that may have been missed during conversation alone. In turn, this provides greater insight into how the client has experienced certain situations, enabling therapists to offer tailored advice based on specific mental health needs and experiences. When used consistently, a narrative therapy worksheet serves as an effective tool for goal setting and progress tracking with clients over time. It can be used to help people reflect on their own lives/past experiences, and clients can use it to break down complex goals into manageable steps while tracking milestones along the way towards achieving them, allowing both parties involved in treatment sessions to stay focused on meeting desired outcomes throughout the therapy process. By working together on the narrative therapy worksheet, you and your clients can engage in a collaborative process of exploring experiences and discovering new perspectives. This encourages an open dialogue between both parties, which helps build trust and understanding while also providing valuable insight into the client's thoughts, feelings, and behavior patterns that can inform treatment goals. Some techniques involved within narrative therapy can be complicated, so having your clients engage with worksheets can help them practice and apply techniques. A worksheet can encourage clients to learn some coping skills and key concepts that can help them work through their problems and mental health issues, and in turn, boost their self-esteem and confidence.

## **How to use this worksheet for Narrative Therapy** We made a narrative therapy worksheet. If you've set up a narrative therapy program for helping clients, you can use our template! ### **Step 1: Download the template** To obtain a copy of the PDF file of our template, you can simply click "Use Template" or "Download." It's up to you if you want to send a digital copy to your client or print copies for them to write in person during your sessions. ### **Step 2: Have your client begin by identifying the problem** This worksheet template is a simple writing exercise. It's divided into four sections, with the first one being dedicated to identifying the specific problem that has been bothering the client and has contributed greatly to how they've been behaving, what thoughts they've been thinking, and what they've been doing as a response to it. The section asks the client to discuss and describe it from their perspective. Please remind them to be as detailed as possible. The more details and the clearer they are, the better for both you and your client down the line. They will talk about this in the first person. They can talk about their emotions and values and how they've been affected, too. ### **Step 3: Have your client externalize the problem** The act of externalizing the problem is the highly effective act of detaching oneself from it. For this part, they will do the same thing as they did when they identified the problem, but this time, they will do so in the third-person perspective. They will describe the problem itself, but not the issues around the problem. Doing so separates the client from the problem itself. They become separate "entities." ### **Step 4: Developing a new perspective** This is the part that you could consider to be the main segment of this worksheet. For this section, your client needs to reflect on the problem from a different perspective. They need to reframe the problem and change the ways they think about the issues around it. An example would be the client being always late at work. Why are they always late? Why do they think that they have no control over being late? The exercise will have them reframe the problem and think of it as something that can be managed or controlled. ### **Step 5: Creating an action plan** Once they have reframed the view of the problem, the final section can serve as a way for them to come up with an action plan. They will have the opportunity to think about the steps they need and can take to address the problem, make a list of these steps, keep in mind their capacities and limitations, and what they can do to ensure they follow the steps. Please remind them to be realistic with their plans, and the steps are doable.

## **Similar tools to use** Since this narrative therapy worksheet is meant to help people reconfigure the way they view their problems and work to ensure that they do reconfigure it, here are other tools we have that you can use: - [Decatastrophizing Worksheet](https://www.carepatron.com/templates/decatastrophizing-worksheet): If your client's problems have shaped them into becoming a person who is always anxious and worries a lot about things that haven't happened or have no reliable evidence of happening, use this worksheet to help them learn how to decatastrophize. This also involves looking at things from a detached perspective so they can examine their worries and if they actually have any basis to be something for them to worry about. - [SMART Goals Worksheet](https://www.carepatron.com/templates/smart-goals-worksheet): When they're at the point where they're capable of creating plans on how to approach their problems, using the SMART Goals Worksheet can help them organize what they can do. - [Challenging Negative Thoughts Worksheet](https://www.carepatron.com/templates/challenging-negative-thoughts-worksheet): This is another worksheet that involves a change in perspective. Let's stipulate that your client has developed a habit of having negative thoughts as a result of their problems. You can use this to help them rework these negative thoughts and replace them with better, more helpful, and positive ones. They're going to need to be able to do that in order to separate themselves from their problems.

## **References** Ackerman, C. (2017). 19 narrative therapy techniques, interventions + worksheets. PositivePsychology.com. https://positivepsychology.com/narrative-therapy/ Psychology Today. (2019). Narrative therapy. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapy-types/narrative-therapy