Session Skill

Important Note

It can be very difficult to look back over our life or our experiences. For some people, this may bring to mind some issues or memories that they would rather not confront. If you find this activity distressing, you may want to omit it or discuss it with someone you trust. Remember, you can also select which areas of your life you want to focus on.

Draw Your Story

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Materials Needed:

Markers, pen or pencil, notepad and paper.

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Take 15 to 30 minutes

Thoughtfully reflect on the course of your life, its high and low points, as well as stable times.

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List life events keeping the below guidelines in mind:

Include experiences that influenced your life and later successes, both positive and negative.

There should be a significant life event at least every other year or so.

Ex. Thus, if you are 40 years old, you’ll have between 15 to 20 life shaping shifts.

Be sure to include negative events or turns, keeping in mind that they can be as essential, if not more so, than positive ones.

Your story is multidimensional, and conflicts are key to telling a great story.

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Put the events in chronological order

Using your (approximate) age at the time.

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Place events on either “high points” or “low points” sides

Events that are overall positive, on the “high points” side and events that were overall negative, by the “low points” side

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Rate the positive or negative intensity of each event

Rate on a scale of 1 to 10, low to high.

Explore Your Story

Looking at your timeline, journal your responses to some or all of the following thoughts and questions (or similar ones):

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Identify any negative turns, big or small. Reflect on what you may have gained or learned. Consider any redemptive value and how this might have contributed value to your life.

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Identify key decisions that, in retrospect, were fruitful. In each case, what made the choice effective? What positive results did it produce? How did you respond at the time (thoughts/feelings) to each decision/results? At what point did you know this decision was a ‘good’ one?

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Identify choices that didn’t turn out well. In each case, what made this a poor choice? What were the costs? How did you respond to each (thoughts/feelings in response to choice/outcomes)? When did you conclude this to be a poor choice?

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Which decision-making strategies worked? Which did not?

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What are key differences and similarities that you can identify between the ‘strategies’ you’ve used to make decisions that are effective versus ineffective?

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Look more closely to see if you can identify the ‘steps’ you took (patterns of thought/feeling/action/think/feel/act) in executing effective strategies; and outline the same for the ineffective strategies.

Questions To Journal

What strikes you or stands out in looking over your timeline?

Which memories make you smile with nostalgia or affection?

Which make you shake your head or cringe in embarrassment?

Which still give you pangs of pain or regret?

Can you identify any ‘stages’ or ‘turning points’ in your timeline?

Is your timeline crowded in some places and spacious in others? Why?

Is there a central theme in your timeline and life overall?

What were the primary reasons or purposes behind your decisions?

How did these reasons shape you, your choices and events in your life?

Who are/were the most significant people in your life? Why?

What are the milestones/significant moments associated with each stage?

Do milestones mostly involve people, accomplishments, events, etc?

Is there anything you might have forgotten/left out?

What, if anything, would you change or add if you could?

How would each of these changes or additions affect your life?

What changes, if any, might enhance your decision-making strategies, knowing what you know today?

Continue to your future. Where do you want to be in a year? In 5 years? In 10 years?

Free-write for a few minutes about the thoughts and emotions that this therapeutic journaling activity brought to the surface.

Source: Psych Central