Narrative therapy is a form of talking therapy that helps you separate yourself from your problems, look closely at the stories that have shaped how you see yourself, and build a fuller, more accurate account of your life. It is collaborative and non-blaming: you are treated as the expert on your own life, and the therapist's job is to ask good questions rather than hand down a verdict.
Below, we explain where the approach comes from, what happens in a session, who it may suit, what the research does and doesn't show, and how it compares with CBT, so you can decide whether it feels right for you.
What narrative therapy is
Narrative therapy rests on a simple observation. We make sense of our lives through stories, linking events together over time into an account of who we are. "I'm the one who holds everything together." "I've never been good with people." These stories are useful, but none of them is the whole truth about a person.
The Dulwich Centre, the Adelaide institute most closely associated with the approach, describes it as centring people as the experts in their own lives and viewing problems as separate from people. The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) puts it in similar terms: people can change the stories they live by.
The approach was developed in the 1980s by Michael White in Adelaide and David Epston in New Zealand, both working in family therapy. Their book Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends (1990) set out the core ideas, and the approach still carries those systemic roots in its attention to relationships and context.
Narrative therapy works from a post-structural premise. Meaning is made, not discovered. The words we use about ourselves, and the words others use about us, shape what we believe is possible.
Dominant stories and thin conclusions
Some stories take over. If you were told as a child that you were "the difficult one", or you have had a run of setbacks at work, those experiences can gather into a dominant story. Over time it filters everything: the moments that fit get remembered, and the moments that don't get quietly dropped.
The result is often a thin conclusion, a short, harsh summary such as "I always fail". Thin conclusions feel like facts, but they leave out your values, your skills and all the times things went differently. If you have ever argued with your critical inner voice and lost, you know how convincing one can be.
Nobody lives one story. You are living dozens at once, such as a work story, a family story, a story about where you belong. Which ones become dominant is not only personal. Family expectations, culture, gender, class, migration and wider social messages all play a part, and narrative therapy takes those influences seriously instead of treating every difficulty as something wrong inside you.
How narrative therapy works in practice
A narrative conversation usually moves through a few connected stages. You agree with your therapist what matters most to talk about. You give the problem a name, ideally in your own words. You explore how it has been affecting your life and relationships. You look for exceptions, the times the problem had less hold. Then, together, you develop an alternative story grounded in those real experiences.
Some guides set these out as five steps of narrative therapy. That is a fair summary, but it is not a fixed protocol. In practice the conversation loops back and forth, and a good therapist follows what is useful to you rather than ticking off stages.
Externalising the problem
Externalising is the best-known narrative practice. Instead of "I am anxious", the conversation might shift to "anxiety is affecting my decisions" or "what has anxiety been telling you about yourself?" The BACP gives a very similar example of a therapist asking what anxiety has a person believing about themselves.
This small change in language can create room to breathe. If anxiety is something affecting you, you can study it: when it gets louder, what feeds it, and when you have stood up to it. Externalising does not dismiss how serious a problem is, and it does not remove responsibility. If anger has been hurting people you love, a narrative conversation will look at that honestly, without collapsing your whole identity into the problem.
Re-authoring and richer stories
Once a problem is named, the work turns to what narrative therapists call unique outcomes. These are moments that don't fit the dominant story: the meeting where you spoke up, the evening you stayed calm with your teenager, the friend you supported through a hard time. On their own they can look like flukes. Explored carefully, they often point to values and skills that have been there all along.
Re-authoring means gathering these moments into a story with more depth. Narrative therapists talk about moving from thin description to rich or "thick" description, where a story is connected to what you care about, who you learned it from, the people who would recognise it in you, and what it might mean for the next step you take. The aim is not positive thinking. It is a more accurate story, one that includes the difficulties and also everything they had been hiding.
Common techniques
Narrative therapists use a range of practices, adapted to the person in front of them:
- Mapping the effects of the problem on your work, relationships, sleep, hopes and sense of self.
- Deconstructing assumptions, asking where a belief came from and whose interests it serves.
- Asking about exceptions and the skills that made them possible.
- Therapeutic letters or documents written after a session to record what you discovered.
- Timelines that trace an alternative story back through your life.
- Inviting supportive witnesses, such as a friend or family member, to hear and respond to your preferred story, where this feels right.
What a narrative therapy session feels like
If you are nervous about starting, it may help to know the tone. A narrative session is built on respectful questions rather than expert interpretation. Your therapist won't tell you what your story "really" means; they will be curious about how you see it. There is no pressure to tell everything in the first session. You set the pace, and you can say when a question doesn't fit.
The approach can be adapted for individuals, couples, families, children and young people. With a couple, "you're always defensive" might become "how does defensiveness take over your conversations?" That moves the focus from blame to a shared problem the two of you can work on.
Problems narrative therapy can help with
Narrative ideas are used with a wide range of concerns. The BACP lists anxiety, depression, trauma and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), as well as isolation and exclusion. It is also used with low self-esteem, grief and loss, relationship and family difficulties, identity, life transitions, shame, and the effects of discrimination. Nobody can promise a particular outcome, but these are areas where the approach is commonly used.
We think it may suit you particularly well if you feel defined by a diagnosis, a past event or a label someone gave you, or if you want therapy to recognise your strengths, relationships and culture, and not only your symptoms. People who like to reflect and talk things through often take to it quickly.
It also sits comfortably alongside other treatment. Narrative work can run in parallel with GP care, medication, psychiatric support or other forms of therapy, and narrative ideas are often woven into an integrative approach. It can be used one to one, with couples, with families or in groups.
Suitability is not universal, though. If you are in an acute crisis, if symptoms are severe, or if you need a highly structured programme to build specific skills, you may need crisis, psychiatric or multidisciplinary support first or alongside any narrative work. That is not a judgement on you. It is about getting the right kind of help in the right order.
Strengths and limitations of narrative therapy
The strengths are real. Narrative therapy is collaborative and strengths-focused. It does not treat you as a collection of symptoms, and it supports your sense of agency, the feeling that you have some say in how your life goes. Separating your identity from the problem can loosen shame. It also makes room for family, culture and social context, rather than locating every difficulty inside the individual.
There are limitations too, and you deserve to hear them:
- It can feel less structured than CBT, which some people find frustrating if they want clear homework and steps.
- It relies on language and on reflective, sometimes abstract questions, which won't suit everyone at every point in their life.
- It may need adapting for some cognitive, communication or developmental needs, including for younger children.
- It is not a substitute for medical assessment, crisis care or medication where these are needed.
If you are in distress right now and worried about your safety, please don't wait for a therapy appointment. Call 112 or 999, go to your nearest emergency department, or call Samaritans free on 116 123, any time. The HSE lists more options on its urgent and emergency care page.
What the research says about narrative therapy
The evidence for narrative therapy is promising but limited, and we think it is important to be straight about that. A systematic review and meta-analysis in the International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology, published in November 2024, pooled 54 randomised controlled trials of narrative therapy for depressive symptoms in adults living with physical illness. It found a significant reduction in depressive symptoms. The authors also rated the quality of evidence as low, noted that 52 of the 54 studies were carried out in China, and called for larger, higher-quality trials.
What does that mean for you? It suggests narrative therapy can help, particularly for people coping with a health condition, but the research base is smaller and more varied than for established treatments such as CBT, especially for specific diagnoses. If you have a condition with a well-established recommended treatment, it is worth knowing that and discussing it with your GP or therapist. Narrative therapy can still be part of the picture, alongside or after that care.
Narrative therapy and CBT compared
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) focuses on the links between thoughts, feelings and behaviours, and uses structured strategies to change patterns that keep distress going. Narrative therapy looks at how stories, language, relationships and social context shape your identity and what feels possible. They overlap more than people expect: both are collaborative, and both pay attention to the meanings you give events.
| Area | Narrative therapy | CBT |
|---|---|---|
| Main focus | Dominant stories, identity, meaning and context | Thoughts, emotions and behaviours |
| View of the problem | The person is separate from the problem | Patterns of thinking and behaviour can keep distress going |
| Therapist's role | Collaborative questioner and co-explorer | Collaborative guide working from a structured formulation |
| Common methods | Externalising, mapping influence, unique outcomes and re-authoring | Thought records, behavioural experiments, exposure and skills practice |
| Structure | Flexible and led by the conversation | Usually more structured and goal-led |
| Evidence base | Promising but comparatively limited and varied | Extensive evidence for several defined conditions |
| Best fit | People drawn to exploring identity, meaning and context | People wanting practical tools and a structured approach |
Neither approach is better for everyone. The right choice depends on what you are dealing with, what the evidence recommends for it, what you prefer, and the therapist's own expertise. Plenty of people benefit from an integrated approach, for example using CBT skills to manage panic while narrative conversations address the story of "being weak" that grew up around it. If you would like to read more about the other side of the comparison, our post on what CBT involves explains it in plain terms.
Narrative therapy online and in person in Ireland
Narrative therapy is an approach used within counselling and psychotherapy, rather than a separate profession. So when you look for it in Ireland, you are really looking for a qualified counsellor or psychotherapist who draws on narrative ideas. Our therapists see people in person at our Dublin and Galway locations and through online therapy across Ireland.
Coming in person gives you a separate space that belongs only to this work. Online sessions save travel time and are easier to fit around work and childcare, though you'll need a private room where you won't be overheard and a reliable connection. Our post on online therapy vs in-person therapy goes into the trade-offs in more detail.
Whichever you choose, ask a prospective therapist about their core qualification, their accreditation, any training they have in narrative therapy, and their experience with the concern that is bringing you. A good therapist will be glad you asked.
FAQs
How many narrative therapy sessions might I need?
There is no standard course length. It depends on your goals, how complex or long-standing the difficulty is, how often you meet, and whether narrative therapy is being used alone or alongside other care. Some people come for a focused piece of work over a few months; others stay longer. We would suggest agreeing goals with your therapist early on and reviewing together how things are going, rather than expecting it to be short or long from the start.
How much does narrative therapy cost in Ireland?
Our current fees are on our prices page, and they can vary by therapist, format and service. If cost is what is holding you back, we also keep a low-cost counselling option for people who would otherwise go without. Before you book anywhere, check the cancellation terms, and ask your health insurer or workplace assistance programme whether they contribute to counselling or psychotherapy sessions.
How do I find a qualified narrative therapist in Ireland?
Start with the therapist's core qualification in counselling or psychotherapy and their accreditation with a recognised professional body, then ask about professional insurance, narrative therapy training and relevant experience. The Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (IACP) directory and the Irish Association of Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy (IAHIP) directory both list accredited practitioners, and the Irish Council for Psychotherapy (ICP) and the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI) are other bodies worth checking. Each of our own therapists' profiles on our website shows who they work with, such as adults, teenagers, couples or children.
What is the difference between narrative therapy and other systemic therapies?
Narrative therapy grew out of family therapy, so it shares the systemic interest in relationships and context: problems are understood within families, communities and cultures, not only inside one person. What sets it apart is its focus on language, on externalising problems, on dominant stories and on re-authoring. Other systemic approaches, like the family systemic therapy we offer, may focus more on patterns of interaction between family members. Our post on family systems and structures explains that side of things.
Taking the next step
If something here sounded like you, perhaps a thin conclusion you have been carrying for years, we would be glad to talk. Tell us what you are dealing with and that narrative ideas appeal to you, and we will help you think through whether a narrative, CBT or other counselling approach fits best, and which of our therapists in Dublin, Galway or online might suit. You can read more about our individual counselling and psychotherapy first, or simply contact our team to ask about availability, format and fees. There is no rush. Whenever you feel ready, we are here.