The Use of Outsider Witness Practice in Narrative Therapy in Group Counseling: A Mixed Method Study

Fear of negative evaluation is an important risk factor for adolescents’ social anxiety and psychological well-being. However, intervention studies focusing on post-modern approaches such as Narrative therapy are limited. This mixed-methods study used a sequential explanatory intervention design to examine the effectiveness of group counseling with and without outsider witness practice in Narrative therapy. The study group consisted of 24 adolescents assigned to experimental group 1, experimental group 2, and the control group. Quantitative data were collected using the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale, and qualitative data were obtained through semi-structured interviews. Both experimental groups showed significant reductions in fear of negative evaluation from pre-test to post-test, and these reductions were maintained at the 10-week follow-up. In contrast, the control group showed no significant change. No statistically significant difference was found between the two intervention conditions. Qualitative findings across the two intervention groups indicated participant-reported improvements in self-awareness, recognition of shared experiences, coping, and sustained benefits. Taken together, the findings suggest that narrative therapy-based group counseling may help reduce adolescents’ fear of negative evaluation. However, the present findings do not demonstrate an additional effect of outsider witness practice beyond narrative therapy-based group counseling without this practice.