Narrative Therapy Cheat Sheet

Narrative Therapy Cheat Sheet is your portable, evidence-informed quick-reference for guiding clients through narrative change. This instantly downloadable digital resource distills the core ideas of narrative therapy into actionable prompts, tools, and language you can use in sessions, supervision, or teaching contexts. It’s designed for real-world practice, not classroom theory—so you can apply it the moment you open the file.

What is Narrative Therapy?

Narrative therapy treats problems as separate from the person, encouraging clients to examine the stories they tell about their lives. By externalizing the issue, identifying unique outcomes, and co-authoring new meanings, clients reclaim agency and expand their range of possible futures. This cheat sheet translates that philosophy into practical steps you can integrate into your conversations in minutes.

Core Principles

• Externalization—frame the problem as something outside the person to reduce self-blame and invite collaboration.
• Re-authoring—spot moments of possibility and co-create preferred stories aligned with values and goals.
• Unique Outcomes—unearthed exceptions to the problem-dominated narrative to broaden options.
• Audience—consider who will hear the new story and how that shapes change.
• Collaborative Narrative—therapeutic work as a joint storytelling process rather than a top-down diagnosis.

Narrative Therapy Tools

The cheat sheet gathers field-tested prompts and activities that glide into sessions or classrooms. Practical components include:

• Letter Writing—structured prompts to draft letters between the client and the problem, between competing story threads, or from a future self back to the present.
• Language Techniques—ready-to-use phrases designed to foster externalization, reframing, and re-authoring without confrontation.
• Narrative Interviews—simple, scalable questions that surface alternative stories and moments of agency.

Letter Writing

Letters are a powerful bridge between insight and action. Use the included templates to guide clients in externalizing influence, expressing values, and cementing new meanings. The prompts are adaptable across ages, cultural contexts, and therapeutic goals, whether you’re working with individuals, couples, or groups.

Try This Language

These language cues invite curiosity and options. They help you name the problem without blaming the person, highlight exceptions to the dominant story, and invite exploration of possible futures. The result is sessions that feel collaborative, hopeful, and practically actionable.

How to Use This Cheat Sheet

1. Open a session with an externalization prompt to set a collaborative tone and clarify the problem’s influence.
2. Choose a language cue or letter-writing activity that matches the client’s voice and cultural context.
3. Use the prompts to surface unique outcomes and begin co-authoring a more empowering narrative.
4. Assign a brief home exercise (for example, a letter to the future self or a short client-to-problem letter) to reinforce the new story between sessions.

Who is this for?

• Therapists, counselors, and social workers seeking a practical, field-tested reference for narrative practice
• Psychology and counseling students needing a concise, digestible overview
• Coaches and educators integrating narrative approaches into their work
• Supervisors looking for a teaching tool to illustrate core concepts

Why this cheat sheet stands out

This isn’t a generic overview. It delivers concrete, ready-to-use tools anchored in core narrative therapy principles. The Letter Writing and Try This Language sections provide you with tangible activities and phrasing that you can adapt instantly, saving planning time and boosting client engagement. It’s designed for quick reference during live sessions, as well as for study, supervision, or class demonstrations.

Instantly downloadable and easy to reference, the Narrative Therapy Cheat Sheet helps you turn theory into practice—so you can help clients externalize what’s weighing them down, notice moments of possibility, and begin re-authoring stories that reflect their values and goals. Add it to your toolkit and start guiding meaningful change today.