The narrative reconstruction of psychotherapy and psychological health

Jonathan M. Adler*, Lauren M. Skalina, Dan P. McAdams

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

128 Scopus citations

Abstract

When people complete psychotherapy, they carry the story of the experience with them. This retrospective reconstruction serves several psychological purposes, including contributing to narrative identity and influencing the maintenance of therapeutic gains after termination. Based on a prior qualitative investigation of therapy narratives (Adler & McAdams, 2007a), a new sample of 104 former clients wrote about their psychotherapy after treatment end. Quantitative analyses indicated that the retrospective narratives of participants high in subjective well-being focused on the protagonist's agency in struggling with a discrete problem. In addition, the narratives of participants high in ego development described a coherent story of growth. These findings suggest that the stories clients construct about psychotherapy reliably vary depending on their psychological health.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)719-734
Number of pages16
JournalPsychotherapy Research
Volume18
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - 2008

Keywords

  • Identity
  • Narrative
  • Outcome research
  • Process research
  • Qualitative research methods

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Clinical Psychology

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