Biographical Data

Abstract

Abstract Biographical data of one sort or another are shared in most day‐to‐day social encounters. When meeting new people, for example, some exchange of biographical data often occurs (e.g., the disclosure of one's occupation or place of employment). Professionals who work with people in a variety of contexts (e.g., physicians, government workers, potential employers) frequently obtain histories of health‐related events, education, and employment. In applied clinical settings, for example, therapists will often assess aspects of a client's life history (e.g., family history; school and occupational history; social history; health, medical, and psychiatric history), and evaluate the potential relevance of this information in relation to the client's stated reasons for entering into therapy and for the selection of appropriate therapies. Several methods or resources can be used for the collection of biographical data, including informal interviews, semi‐structured interviews (von Zerssen, Pössl, Hecht, Black, Garczynski, & Barthelmes, 1998), “memory books” (Thomson & Holland, 2005), institutional records, documents, and specially designed biographical inventories and checklists.