When It Is Used
Use it at selected planning or review moments when change story and future direction matter for therapy alignment.
Past–Present–Future River
Past–Present–Future River is a temporal narrative mapping tool for occupational therapy. Practitioners send it to help clients distinguish past, present, and desired future life flow, obstacles, supports, and goals so therapy can align with the client’s change story.
Preview the three-state river activity and save this tool to share with a client.
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Tool guide
Learn more about this tool
Use this background section to understand when the tool fits, how practitioners use it, and what to consider before sharing it with clients.
What It Shows
The result shows past, present, and desired future states as distinct parts of one client-generated narrative.
Important Limitation
The tool does not infer goals, assign priorities, or create standardized change scores.
Are the time states configurable?
No. This tool uses three fixed states: past, present, and desired future.
Can a future state be tentative?
Yes. The future state can remain tentative; the tool should not force specificity beyond the client’s expression.
Does the system interpret changes across states?
No. It may show differences in entered content, but practitioner interpretation remains separate.
What gets saved?
The fixed Past–Present–Future River tool is saved. Fictional demo narratives are not saved as real client data by default.