Therapeutic autobiography: what it is and how it works

The autobiographical method is a technique used in psychotherapy endorsed by various studies, which has benefits that have to do with the very fact of narrating one's life, being a practice both creator as recreator of memories, capable of accounting for something as complex and studied as experience human.

It allows an approach to the sensitivity and culture of the subject, combining both observation and reflection, making it an ideal tool for the field of psychotherapy.

In 1984 this autobiographical method would be called life stories, in which an autobiography attempts to analyze specific psychological aspects. Today it is used in psychology from different methodologies, either to verify theories, as an evaluation tool, or as a therapeutic instrument by itself.

• Related article: "The 8 benefits of going to psychological therapy"

What is the autobiographical method?

The autobiography is a narration that an individual makes spontaneously, from their feelings and beliefs, showing his subjectivity, his way of seeing the world and consequently his identity.

It implies a going back in time and a moment to reflect on his life, and to relive experiences, crucial moments and others not so much but also important and forgotten.

Our life is made up of acts and omissions; of all that we did and that other thing that we did not do and we would have liked to do, or we think we should have done. It is made of silences and above all it is made of words, the ones we said, the ones they told us, the ones that somehow marked us and constitute us. Through the autobiographical account we are rewriting our own history from a new perspective that our present gives us.

How does it work?

This technique works in two main ways. On the one hand, serving as a basis for dialogue between patient and therapist. The patient must face his I remember and forgetting him, in whose task the therapist will collaborate by mobilizing the patient to deepen the concepts and analyze them.

In addition, it acts by giving information. This information has to do with the following aspects:

• The people who are relevant in our lives, or and what is the role they play or have played in it.
• What contents regulate the world view of the subject.
• The coping strategies and defense mechanisms used to deal with both internal and external demands.
• The point of view about what has happened and how their experience has developed under their subjectivity.

Profits

Among the benefits that we can find when performing this technique we have, for example, being able to explain oneself, understand from a new autobiographical dimension in which the past becomes present in a way that can be reformulated, relabeling and re-meaning. In addition, it allows to externalize the problems and in turn take a certain distance from them.

It also facilitates the task of ordering, analyzing and elaborating the problematic contents and in this way free oneself, in a certain way, from the anguish or discomfort caused by problems not understood or channeled.

How it is performed?

To be able to do therapy we know that the fundamental thing is the word, that the patient speaks, so, and as we have seen previously, with this method we facilitate the word, by asking the patient to speak and tell her story since we all have a story that tell.

This will be done both in consultation and at home, where you can write about topics related to our biography, and then work on them in sessions.

Guidelines used

Regarding the guidelines used to direct the patient, we can say that although there are certain guidelines to do so, Each subject, as their narrative develops, will set certain guidelines. Among the most important we could mention the following.

Before beginning the narration, a period of reflection is recommended, the patient is reminded not to criticize himself and that in the case of writing, neither the spelling nor the form should matter to him.

As for the instructions, the patient can be asked to start sequentially from his first memories or let him do it as the memories arise; history can also be divided into significant periods for some reason or evolutionary. You are encouraged to lean on photographs, letters, landscapes, places, significant others. You can ask him to alternate between the first person and the third person in his story, experiencing the memory as if it were another.

On the other hand, the analysis of said life history can contemplate the following scheme;

• Significant incidents mentioned.
• Organization of the information: language used and depth of the narration.
• Aspects that are omitted or that are more superficially addressed.
• Possible aspects that are narrated in a distorted way and about what it is necessary to gather more information.
• Inconsistencies that suggest that an issue is being avoided.
• Other points to ask about in the verbal interview.
• Comments that summarize the content.

Considerations to be taken into account by the therapist

The role of the therapist is essential for this autobiography to acquire the role of therapy, their listening and collaboration will make this possible.

First of all you have to take into account that an autobiographical narrative is subject both to what is remembered and to what is not remembered or simply does not want to remember and see that there is room for fiction, sometimes out of shame, or because it is thought that what we have to tell is not well seen.

Thus, it may happen that not everything that is told responds to the reality of the facts. But the fundamental thing in this case would not be so much to look for the veracity of the story but to find the truth of the subject, that that he experiences as real, the meaning he gives to the events of his life, how he explains and defines his existence in this world.

Conclution

When doing an autobiography in therapy we are contacting the memory, with feelings and emotions, having the opportunity to analyze them together with the therapist, to be able to see ourselves from another perspective, from another place, and to be able to realize issues that we ignored as we were stuck in raw memories.

In this way we can find new meanings that will help us to reconcile ourselves with ourselves, with others and with our lives in general, we can resolve conflicts and understand each other best.

If you think you have a pending account with the past, if you need to reaffirm and strengthen your own identity, if you think you should forgive and forgive yourself, if you are going through a critical moment in your life, remember that autobiographical therapy can be useful. You may contact me for more information, and remember that I can assist you both in person and online.