This workshop introduces a new approach, the Power Threat Meaning Framework, which is becoming influential within and beyond services. It is a co-produced project which draws on trauma-informed ideas in order to support the construction of narratives as an alternative to diagnostic labels. The PTMF can help to explain how and why distress arises in the contexts of life events and the sense people make of them. In this way, trauma survivors can be supported to create more hopeful narratives about their difficulties, instead of seeing themselves as blameworthy, weak, or mentally ill. The Framework also shows why those of us without an obvious history of trauma or adversity can still struggle to find a sense of self-worth, meaning and identity.