Narrative Therapy Problem-Solving Worksheet: Defining Problems & Evaluating Solutions

This comprehensive five-page clinical workbook operationalizes an advanced, structured approach to problem-solving that blends the analytical mechanics of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) with the identity-separation protocols of Narrative Therapy. It directly targets the executive dysfunction, emotional flooding, and cognitive narrowing that occur when a client’s self-concept becomes completely fused with a chronic problem network. The layout features an intensive, multi-phase tracking sequence across five distinct domains: Defining the Problem, Developing Solutions, Evaluating Your Options, Taking Action, and Reviewing. By requiring the client to explicitly deconstruct their struggles on paper, the tool facilitates metacognitive differentiation and shifts them from reactive overwhelm to active personal agency.

The structured layout is designed to support Organismic Self-Regulation by separating primary emotional states from secondary defensive affects (e.g., separating primary fear from secondary anger) before moving to systemic causality mapping. Page 3 implements a rigorous cost-benefit matrix requiring clients to document the pros and cons of multiple brainstormed alternatives and assign a logical “Solution Ranking.” Research into process-experiential and cognitive therapies implies that this deliberate delay in execution expands the client’s Window of Tolerance, lower baseline anxiety loops, and prevents the activation of impulsive threat responses. By concluding with a 5-step operational timeline and a multi-perspective advisory reflection (“If you were giving advice to someone with your problem, what would you tell them?”), the worksheet establishes the cognitive scaffolding necessary to reinforce stable Self-Leadership.

This clinical resource draws significant inspiration from the foundational, evidence-based manualization established by Michael White and David Epston, the co-creators of Narrative Therapy, alongside the empirical problem-solving therapy models developed by D’Zurilla and Goldfried. By moving crisis management from abstract panic into a predictable, trackable writing template, the form serves as an invaluable asset for case formulation and high-fidelity progress tracking. This process is foundational for ensuring that the therapeutic journey respects the client’s autonomy, allowing them to deconstruct limiting self-beliefs, build long-term relational and personal resilience, and achieve sustainable behavioral maintenance in their daily environments.

How This Worksheet Can Be Used

Deconstructing Monolithic Impasses (Initial Phase):
Therapists use Page 1 during early assessment sessions when a client presents with severe distress or globalized thinking (e.g., “My life is a mess”). Dissecting the global complaint into a specific definition, primary/secondary emotions, and underlying causes creates the immediate psychological distance necessary for effective clinical work.

Bypassing Impulsive Behavioral Chains (Middle Phase):
This tool is highly effective for clients who default to high-risk or reactive coping mechanisms when triggered. The structured “Developing Solutions” and “Evaluating Options” matrices force an intentional “cognitive pause,” guiding the client’s brain to logically analyze alternative paths and self-generate rational arguments for adaptive choices.

Formulating High-Fidelity Action and Review Homework:
Clinicians utilize Pages 4 and 5 to establish formal inter-session contracts. The client defines their specific environmental triggers, outlines a 5-step action plan, and returns to the next session with a completed “Reviewing” log, providing the therapist with concrete, empirical data to audit the client’s real-world execution and adjustment architecture.

Benefits of the Narrative Problem-Solving Workbook

• Integrates narrative identity separation and CBT problem-solving across a rigorous 5-page workbook.
• Differentiates between primary and secondary emotional states to reduce affective flooding.
• Features a structured four-column matrix to evaluate and rank alternative behavioral solutions.
• Establishes an explicit 5-step operational action plan paired with specific trigger warning signs.
• Utilizes externalized, advisory reflection prompts to cultivate objective metacognitive awareness.
• Provides an empirical, data-driven framework for clinical homework logs, intake data, and progress notes.

References

• White, M., & Epston, D. (1990). Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends. W. W. Norton & Company. (The foundational text introducing externalizing and problem-separation conversation maps).
• White, M. (2007). Maps of Narrative Practice. W. W. Norton & Company. (The essential manualization of re-authoring and tracking alternative resources).
• D’Zurilla, T. J., & Goldfried, M. R. (1971). Problem solving and behavior modification. Journal of Abnormal Psychology. (The definitive empirical foundation for structured clinical problem-solving models).
• Morgan, A. (2000). What is Narrative Therapy? An Easy-To-Read Introduction. Dulwich Centre Publications.