Narrative therapy, Applications, and Outcomes: A Systematic Review

Narrative therapy (NT) has a post-modern approach and assumes people as experts that construct their narratives.

This study aims to provide a review of relevant literature from 1995 to 2021 on studies using narrative therapy, considering how to use it, the application of this approach, and its outcomes.

This study is a systematic review. According to this method, Web of Science and Scopus depositories was selected because they are acknowledged to contain high quality and high impact studies.

Results of this study show that some studies have not clarified how narrative therapy techniques were used and even have conventional outcomes. The others use one or both essential techniques, including externalizing and unique outcomes. Besides, some studies focus on meaning-making and changing discourses.

As a result of this review study, studies that have used the essential techniques have increased the efficacy of this approach, including externalizing, unique outcomes, meaning-making, and changing discourses (focusing on language and construction).