Guide
The lifeline means placing on a single line, from birth to today, the moments that have counted. It looks simple, but it is used in several serious therapies, each in its own way.
One line, from birth to today
You draw a horizontal line. On the left, birth; on the right, today, and a stretch that carries on into the future. You place the important events on it, with your age: above the line what was pleasant, below what was difficult. Joining the dots reveals the shape of your story, with its lows and its highs.
Where does this tool come from?
There isn’t “one” lifeline, but several uses, which come from different traditions:
- Life review: as early as 1963, the psychiatrist Robert Butler described the need to take stock of one’s life, especially when growing older. This gave rise to “reminiscence” and “life review” interventions.
- The life story and narrative identity: for the psychologist Dan McAdams, each person builds an inner life story, with chapters, key scenes and themes, that gives a sense of unity and meaning.
- Narrative therapy by Michael White and David Epston, which helps uncover, alongside the dominant story (“I’m a failure”), other stories that have been left in the shadows.
- EMDR: when taking the history, the psychologist builds with the person a timeline of important events, positive and negative. It is used later to choose the memories to work on and the resources to rely on.
- Narrative exposure therapy (NET), developed for people who have lived through many traumas (war, exile, violence): a rope is laid on the floor, with flowers for the good moments and stones for the traumas.
A little theory · NET was developed at the University of Konstanz (Schauer, Neuner and Elbert), first with refugees. In a meta-analysis of 16 controlled trials (947 participants), post-traumatic stress symptoms clearly decreased; NET worked better than no treatment and than therapies not focused on trauma, but not better than the other active therapies as a whole (Lely et al., 2019). What heals in NET isn’t the line itself, but the detailed, supported account of the stones, session after session.
What research says
The way we tell our life is linked to well-being. People who, in their account, see themselves as the protagonists of their story (they choose, act, have influence) and who find meaning in difficulties tend to be better off.
A little theory · In a study of patients in psychotherapy, the sense of being the protagonist of one’s own story increased over the sessions, and this change appeared before improvement in mental health (Adler, 2012). Other work shows that these qualities of the story predict well-being beyond personality traits (Adler et al., 2016).
A little theory · Reminiscence and life review interventions have moderate effects on depressive symptoms and smaller effects on other aspects of well-being, studied mainly in older people (Pinquart and Forstmeier, 2012). They are useful aids, not treatments on their own.
Specific scenes rather than generalities
When we are not well, we tend to remember in general terms: “my childhood was sad”, “I’ve always done everything wrong”. These vague memories keep sadness going and are of little help in solving problems. Going back to specific scenes (one day, one place, what happened) lets you see what you did and what it says about you.
A little theory · Difficulty in retrieving specific memories is well documented in depression and post-traumatic stress (Williams et al., 2007). That is why worksheet 118 asks for scenes, as in a film.
What it can be useful for
- Taking stock of your journey, especially during a transition: a move, a separation, moving abroad, retirement (worksheets 116, 117, 122).
- Finding your resources: if you are here today, you have already been through hard times, with the help of something or someone (worksheet 120).
- Seeing what repeats, without judging yourself (worksheet 121).
- Choosing what comes next: extending the line towards what matters to you (worksheet 123).
Doing it without hurting yourself
Going back over your life can stir up painful memories. A few simple rules:
- For a very difficult moment, write down just one word, without telling the story. Work on traumatic memories is done in session, with a trained psychologist (EMDR, NET), when you are stable enough.
- Start with the flowers as much as with the stones: they are part of your story too.
- Take breaks. If a memory overwhelms you, look around you, name 5 things you can see and use a grounding exercise (worksheets 04 and 93).
- Avoid turning it into a judgement: the aim isn’t to judge your life, but to understand it.
A little theory · In NET, the lifeline is an optional step in the protocol, done in one session at the start of treatment: the psychologist keeps a photo and uses it as a map for the following sessions (Schauer et al., 2011). Worksheet 119 is inspired by it, to be done with your psychologist.
Worksheets to practise
- 116 · My lifeline · Placing the important moments of my life on a single line
- 117 · The chapters of my life · Telling my life as a book
- 118 · High point, low point, turning point · The key scenes of my story
- 119 · Flowers and stones · A lifeline of the moments that did me good and those that hurt
- 120 · The resources on my lifeline · What helped me get through the difficult periods
- 121 · The common threads in my story · What repeats from one chapter to the next
- 122 · The places of my life · My lifeline, city by city
- 123 · Extending the line · The next chapters of my life
Sources
McAdams, D. P. (2001). The psychology of life stories. Review of General Psychology, 5(2), 100-122.
McAdams, D. P. & McLean, K. C. (2013). Narrative identity. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 22(3), 233-238.
Adler, J. M., Lodi-Smith, J., Philippe, F. L. & Houle, I. (2016). The incremental validity of narrative identity in predicting well-being: A review of the field and recommendations for the future. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 20(2), 142-175.
Adler, J. M. (2012). Living into the story: Agency and coherence in a longitudinal study of narrative identity development and mental health over the course of psychotherapy. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102(2), 367-389.
Butler, R. N. (1963). The life review: An interpretation of reminiscence in the aged. Psychiatry, 26(1), 65-76.
Westerhof, G. J. & Bohlmeijer, E. T. (2014). Celebrating fifty years of research and applications in reminiscence and life review: State of the art and new directions. Journal of Aging Studies, 29, 107-114.
Pinquart, M. & Forstmeier, S. (2012). Effects of reminiscence interventions on psychosocial outcomes: A meta-analysis. Aging & Mental Health, 16(5), 541-558.
Schauer, M., Neuner, F. & Elbert, T. (2011). Narrative Exposure Therapy: A Short-Term Treatment for Traumatic Stress Disorders (2nd ed.). Hogrefe.
Robjant, K. & Fazel, M. (2010). The emerging evidence for Narrative Exposure Therapy: A review. Clinical Psychology Review, 30(8), 1030-1039.
Lely, J. C. G., Smid, G. E., Jongedijk, R. A., Knipscheer, J. W. & Kleber, R. J. (2019). The effectiveness of narrative exposure therapy: A review, meta-analysis and meta-regression analysis. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 10(1), 1550344.
Shapiro, F. (2018). Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy: Basic Principles, Protocols, and Procedures (3rd ed.). Guilford.
Williams, J. M. G., Barnhofer, T., Crane, C., Herman, D., Raes, F., Watkins, E. & Dalgleish, T. (2007). Autobiographical memory specificity and emotional disorder. Psychological Bulletin, 133(1), 122-148.
White, M. & Epston, D. (1990). Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends. Norton.
These worksheets do not replace therapy. If you are in distress or having suicidal thoughts, call your local emergency number (112 in Europe; 3114 in France, free, 24/7).
