Narrative therapy (NT) is a strengths-based approach to psychotherapy that uses collaboration between the client or family and the therapist to help clients see themselves as empowered and capable of living the way they want. In the face of crisis or trauma, NT helps clients achieve a “This too will pass” attitude, while positioning the therapist as an appreciative ally in the process. NT is useful with individuals and is used extensively with families due to its ability to separate clients from problems and unite families against problematic patterns. NT also lends itself well to joining with families because it stresses strengths and achievements over problems. Disciplines Mental and Social Health | Nursing Comments This content was originally published in The SAGE Encyclopedia of Theory in Counseling and Psychotherapy © 2015 SAGE. It can be found on SAGE's website here: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781483346502.n250 This content is posted with permission from SAGE. Distributing, reselling, or any repurposing of the content is not allowed and content is not to be used for commercial MOOCs or any other commercial purposes without permission. This article is available at Fisher Digital Publications: https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/nursing_facpub/72 Narrative Therapy 695 Letters may also be written to invite and encourage the participation of reluctant family members in the process, note duplications of roles in the family to those wishing to change them, thank family members for their participation and inform them that they no longer need to play their role in the alternative narrative, and, at the conclusion of therapy, predict continued success and encourage the family to continue to search for new possibili ties. Whatever the narrative therapist’s form and purpose as a collaborator, the narrative therapist maintains transparency by exposing his or her thoughts to the family in letters and by providing room for confirmation or challenge as the process of co-construction progresses.