Very handy workbook with easy to follow instruction. It’s pleasant to look out, robust enough to use with the hardest or critics (prisoners 😂). Glad to have gotten approved. Thank you.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book.

This workbook outlines what narrative therapy looks like in practice and how readers can use the techniques of this approach to rewrite their own story and acknowledge and merge the different narratives of their life.

The case studies explored client's experiences with narrative techniques as well as offering suggestions throughout to help readers reflect on the way they make meaning. As someone studying counselling and the ways we are conditioned in childhood by the stories we inherit from our caregivers, I really found the case studies informative and clarified my own world view and how I perceive my problems through the lens of old stories. Just recently I had to create a life map and using the life story frame work in this book helped me to reflect.

The overarching message for me was the power of perception. By gathering information about the client the therapist can help their client to imagine how differently they could perceive their story and how telling their own story different would totally alter their current life experiences and how they go about their lives.

I found this a very empowering read and a great tool . I recommend this for anyone learning about therapy or just wanting to learn more about importance of the the stories we tell and the meanings we give to our life events and how this impacts our whole lives.

One analogy I've picked up from my training is how self awareness allows us to look at our lives and our beliefs as a garden, where people had pre-planted thing. With therapy and by growing self awareness we get to decide what we want to stay in the garden and what we want to let go of. This book does just that by exploring our stories and sometimes choosing to tell them differently, we can take back our power and let go of the stories that don't serve us anymore.

Jneé Hill's "The Narrative Therapy Workbook" is a brilliant self-help book the help folks peek behind the veil of their constricting narratives and reconstruct something more authentic and beautiful. Chock full of exercises and contemporary psychological principles this book will help people feel more whole and propel them to live a more honest and vital life.

The Narrative Therapy Workbook provides an overview of what narrative therapy is, what it looks like in practice, and how folks can use the techniques of this approach to reauthor the multiple, intersecting narratives in their lives. I love the distinction made between the difference of a therapist asking interview-style questions and a therapist gathering information with the intent of helping the client generate experiences to assist with thinking up possible alternate views of their lives. Some of these questions include the following:

1. How long have you noticed the problem?
2. What effect does the problem have on your life?
3. How would you prefer things to be?

There are case studies from Jnee's own practice where she shares client's experiences with narrative techniques as well as prompts throughout to help the reader reflect on their own meaning making practice based on the events of their lives. I enjoyed the quizzes built in to help the reader get a sense of how we view our problems and our own relationship to the problems we face.

The Narrative Therapy workbook is a great tool for those wanting to learn more about the psychology of how the stories we tell ourselves as well as the ones we inherit inform our mental health challenges. By reauthoring these stories, we can take our power back and live life on our own terms based upon our own values. My favorite part is the framework included where readers create a skeleton of our own life story up to the present day- a moment to reflect on our own childhood, youth, and adult experiences in context. The therapeutic letter of reference the author wants us to write for ourselves at the end was a nice touch as well!

Thank you to the author and publisher for the e-arc copy!

I really enjoyed this therapy workbook. It was descriptive and easy to comprehend. I had to actually stop and get a notebook to start doing some of the prompts. I received this book as an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. All of these opinions are my own.

I had experienced intense anxiety like I had never experienced at any other point in my life. I am really turning the corner now. There is always hope and just like anxiety or depression might have burst into your life, it can also leave. I read this book after I had already made substantial progress from a variety of sources and methodologies. My summation of the underlying process of just about any therapy is to acknowledge and face the problem, gain insights and come up with a new meaning from the old situation. This book has numerous tools that can help you face your challenges, learn more about the situation and yourself and lastly create a new meaning that is more empowering and healthy.

I started reading this book and I had stop and buy a hard copy as it was doing great things for me, but not being able to write it down or do it on a separate paper, I just couldn't.

The author explains this approach and it is so easy to understand and do. The best part is being able to be in control and doing it at my own pace. It's so worth it!

The Narrative Therapy Workbook by Jnée Hill, LCSW, explores the narrative therapy approach and offers exercises for you to try out on your own.

Narrative therapy involves examining the stories that you’ve been told and that you tell yourself and then re-authoring them in a way that highlights your strengths and abilities. It’s based on the idea that we can’t have objective knowledge of the world; rather, everything we understand about it is filtered through our own experiences. It’s an approach that views individuals as experts of their own stories, and the therapist’s role is to ask questions to help people find their own answers rather than leading them towards particular answers. It focuses on strengths rather than dysfunction and pathologizing.

The process involves several states:

-Externalizing the problem: This stage is about seeing the problem as separate from your identity, and recognizing the role that external forces (e.g. socioeconomic factors) play. This may involve personifying, visualizing, and giving a name to the problem story.
-Deconstructing the problem-saturated story: This includes looking at where our stories came from and the meanings and assumptions related to them, and recognizing that they’re often not truly our own and we’ve learned them from others.
-Re-authoring: This involves reframing and reimagining the narrative and choosing new storylines that are a better fit for you.
-Re-membering: This is about deciding who you want as members in the club that is your life, and what role you want them to play.

The book’s first three chapters provide background information about the narrative therapy approach, and then the workbook aspect kicks in and is organized around the four stages in the therapeutic process. There are various prompt questions and there’s space to fill them out. At the end of each chapter, there are concise bullet point summaries of the key takeaways.

I’d heard of narrative therapy before, but this was the first time I’d read about any of the details of it. It sounds like an interesting approach, and I can see it being particularly useful if there are strong other elements to the problems you’re experiencing, whether that’s internalized negative messages from significant people in your life, bullying, or the effects of racism or other -isms. I like the idea of extricating other people’s stories about ourselves and the world from our own stories; I’m rather feistily independent, so I want to be my own author.

In terms of the book, I think it gives a good look at what narrative therapy is like, and it could be helpful to just do on its own or to work through and get a feel for whether it would be a good approach for you to work with a therapist on.


I received a reviewer copy from the publisher through Netgalley.