Many Iraqi refugees suffer from posttraumatic stress. Efficient, culturally sensitive interventions are needed, and so we adapted narrative exposure therapy into a brief version (brief NET) and tested its effects in a sample of traumatized Iraqi refugees. Iraqi refugees in the United States reporting elevated posttraumatic stress (N = 63) were randomized to brief NET or waitlist control conditions in a 2:1 ratio; brief NET was 3 sessions, conducted individually, in Arabic. Positive indicators (posttraumatic growth and well‐being) and symptoms (posttraumatic stress, depressive, and somatic) were assessed at baseline and 2‐ and 4‐month follow‐up. Treatment participation (95.1% completion) and study retention (98.4% provided follow‐up data) were very high. Significant condition by time interactions showed that those receiving brief NET had greater posttraumatic growth (d = 0.83) and well‐being (d = 0.54) through 4 months than controls. Brief NET reduced symptoms of posttraumatic stress (d = −0.48) and depression (d = −0.46) more, but only at 2 months; symptoms of controls also decreased from 2 to 4 months, eliminating condition differences at 4 months. Three sessions of brief NET increased growth and well‐being and led to symptom reduction in highly traumatized Iraqi refugees. This preliminary study suggests that brief NET is both acceptable and potentially efficacious in traumatized Iraqi refugees.