Narrative therapy is a healing modality focused on storytelling and belief. It helps us re-frame our experiences so our lives and emotional responses are more manageable.
Basics of Narrative Therapy
The goal is to rewrite your story candidly, exploring other ways of viewing and approaching your life.
- Externalizing the Problem: This key technique helps the person view the problem as a separate entity operating outside of them, rather than an inherent part of their identity. For example, instead of saying, “I am depressed,” the shift is to, “Depression is affecting me.” This separation creates space for action and change.
- Deconstruction: Break down the dominant, often “problem-saturated,” stories a person holds about themselves and their life. Question the origins, effects, and assumptions embedded in these narratives, exposing how societal, cultural, or familial beliefs might have shaped them.
- Searching for Unique Outcomes/Re-authoring: By deconstructing the old story, space is created to explore “unique outcomes”—times when the problem did not have control or when the person acted in alignment with their preferred values. These small, often overlooked, exceptions are amplified and woven together to co-create a new, richer, and more empowering narrative about the client’s identity and future.
The Journaling Challenge
What you will be doing
This full 17-day challenge unfolds like a hero (or antihero’s) journey: starting with naming your struggle, moving through allies and transformation, then digging into deeper layers of shame, love, values, and societal pressure, and finally ending in integration and sovereignty.
you’re walking through your own myth.
Here is a map of the goals and objectives.
Scroll all the way down for the daily prompts. 🙂
Journey Map
Act I: The Villain & the Call to Adventure (Days 1–7)
The story begins with you meeting your struggle as a character and realizing it doesn’t define you.
Act II: The Descent & Shadow Work (Days 8–11)
You descend into deeper layers — shame, guilt, love, and heartbreak — confronting what hides in the shadows.
Act III: The Trial of Worth & Alignment (Days 12–14)
Here you face trials that test your values, worth, and ability to walk in alignment.
Act IV: The World’s Pressure & The Hidden Door (Days 15–16)
The wider world enters the story, bringing pressure, judgment, and rejection. You learn to respond and find hidden opportunities.
Act V: The Sovereign Self (Day 17)
The final act: you return crowned, whole, and in your power — integrating everything you’ve learned.
The arc takes you from externalizing your struggle → descending into the shadows → clarifying your worth and values → facing external pressures → returning to sovereignty.
Optional add-ons for any day:
- Breathwork: 3 deep breaths before writing, exhale with sound.
- Movement: stretch for 1–2 minutes to release what you’ve written.
- Closing Gesture: thank your ally-self (your inner guide) after each session.
Reminder/disclaimer: journaling challenges are no substitute for care from a licensed professional, which I am not.
The journaling Prompts
Day 1 – The Villain Appears
“Imagine your struggle (creative block, self-doubt, imbalance) as a living character. What do they look like? How do they speak to you? What powers do they use to get in your way? Write their origin story as if they are a villain entering your life’s tale.”
Day 2 – Naming the Enemy
“Give this character a name or title. What is their ultimate goal? How have they shaped the plot of your story so far? Write about moments where they’ve shown up before and how you’ve responded.”
Day 3 – The Secret Ally
“Imagine you have an ally within you — a braver, wiser, or more compassionate self. How do they appear? How do they speak? Write a dialogue between your struggle-character and your ally, noticing the contrasts in tone, power, and truth.”
Day 4 – The Turning Point
“Picture a scene where you stand face-to-face with your struggle. What does your ally help you realize in that moment? Write the moment of shift: the instant where the story starts to change direction.”
Day 5 – The Alternative Plotline
“If your life were written without the influence of this struggle, what would the plot look like? Describe a day, a creative project, or a relationship scene in that alternate storyline. How does it feel different?”
Day 6 – Rewriting the Ending
“Now, imagine your current life chapter coming to a close. What is the closing scene? What lesson have you learned from facing this struggle? Write it as if you’re the author wrapping up this part of your story.”
Day 7 – Integration & Myth-Making
“Finally, turn your journey into a myth or fable. Retell the whole week as a short legend — the Villain, the Ally, the Turning Point, the Victory. Give it a title. This becomes your personal myth of resilience and creativity.”
Day 8 – Shame’s Shadow
“If shame were a character in your story, how would it walk into the room? What words would it whisper? What does it want you to believe about yourself? Write its dialogue.”
Day 9 – The Weight of Guilt
“Imagine guilt as an old companion carrying heavy bags. What is inside those bags? Write about what guilt makes you carry that doesn’t truly belong to you.”
Day 10 – The First Love Spell
“Think of a moment of romantic love in your life — past or present — and write it as though it were a spell cast on you. What enchantments did it bring? What illusions or truths did it reveal?”
Day 11 – Heartbreak as a Storm
“Picture heartbreak not as an emotion, but as a storm in your world. How did it change the landscape? What new growth eventually sprouted in the soil it left behind?”
Day 12 – The Mirror of Worthiness
“Imagine holding a mirror that reflects not your face, but your worth. What do you see in it? What parts of yourself shine brightest, and what parts does the struggle try to hide from you?”
Day 13 – The Council of Values
“Picture your core values (love, freedom, loyalty, creativity, etc.) as members of a council. Who speaks the loudest? Who is silenced? Write about what happens when the council meets to decide your next chapter.”
Day 14 – Alignment as a River
“Imagine alignment as a flowing river. Where does your current path drift away from it? What happens when you step back into its waters? Write about how it feels to return to flow.”
Day 15 – The Voices of Society
“Give voice to society’s expectations — let them be a chorus, a judge, or a crowd. What do they demand of you? Then, write your response as though you are standing before them, unshaken.”
Day 16 – Rejection as Redirection
“Write about rejection as a door slamming shut. But imagine a hidden doorway nearby, one you would never have found otherwise. Where does this secret passage lead?”
Day 17 – The Crown of Self
“End by writing a coronation scene: your ally-self placing a crown upon your head. Describe what kind of ruler you are in your own story now — what qualities you embody, what values you protect, and how your struggles have become part of your myth.”
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