Abstract
Major life changes may cause an autobiographical rupture and a need to work on one’s narrative identity. This article introduces a new qualitative interview methodology originally developed to facilitate 10 prostate cancer patients and five spouses in the (re)creation of their life narratives in the context of a series of interventive interviews conducted over a timespan of several months. In “The Clip Approach” the interviewees’ words, phrases, and metaphors are reflected back in a physical form (“the Clips”) as visual artifacts that allow the interviewees to re-enter and re-consider their experience and life and re-construct their narratives concerning them. Honoring the interviewees as authors facilitates autobiographical reasoning, building a bridge between the past and the future, and embedding the illness experience as part of one’s life narrative. The Clip Approach provides new tools for both research and practice—potentially even a low-threshold psychosocial support method for various applicability areas.
Highlights
Narratives and life stories are created individually and in interaction, they form a narrative identity, which develops slowly over time and gives a feeling of wholeness and meaning to life (McAdams, 2013; McAdams & McLean, 2013; Sparkes & Smith, 2008)
The focus is on the use of visual artifacts (“the Clips”) introduced and developed by Riikka Talsi to reflect the richness of the interviewees’ accounts and to help the interviewees to re-enter and re-evaluate their experience and re-construct their life story
We illustrate, how the Clip Approach as a visual method facilitated the participants in returning to their narrative, in exploring and re-evaluating meaning, and in re-constructing an evolving life story embedding the cancer experience
Summary
Narratives and life stories are created individually and in interaction, they form a narrative identity, which develops slowly over time and gives a feeling of wholeness and meaning to life (McAdams, 2013; McAdams & McLean, 2013; Sparkes & Smith, 2008). Mere remembering of past episodes is insufficient (Habermas & Köber, 2015), one needs to interpret and evaluate remembered experiences (Singer & Bluck, 2001) and make connections between distant parts of life, self, and personal development (Habermas & Köber, 2015; McLean & Fournier, 2008). Autobiographical reasoning facilitates coping and contributes to the development of personality, identity (Habermas, 2011), and personal growth (McLean & Fournier, 2008). Exploration, and redemptive meanings seem to relate to higher levels of mental health, wellbeing, and maturity
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