Example 2
- Significant people in my life.
- Significant events and experiences in my life.
- Significant places in my life.
Example 3
Start your autobiography as far back as you can remember – your earliest childhood
memories.
As you write about the events you choose to retain, try and show how they affected the
way you fell and act today.
Case study adapted from Gibson and Mitchell:
The subject is the fifth boy born in the family. Parents always let him know nothing he
was doing was right or mattered. His nickname “Nobody” follows him through school, he
is convinced that he’s not worthy of being remembered by teachers, classmates, etc. His
older brother with a sense of humour adjusted the nickname into NB.
By this powerful statement, the counsellor understands the client’s withdrawn behaviour
and poor self-esteem.
Example 4
Peter Madison (Personality Development in College , 1969) suggested this outline for an
autobiography (www.mentalhelp.net):
- “General introduction: who are you, your family and your position in the
family, important people in your life at this point. - Early childhood memories: outstanding events without regard to order or
connotation. - Childhood ideas or conceptions: things that concerned you when growing up,
who are our real parents, how are babies made, what is death, what causes
parents to drink or fight, what does it mean to "go to work". - Your self-concept as a child: how you felt about yourself, abilities or
weaknesses you assumed you had, how were the others towards you. - Significant others in your family of origin and present situation: general
nature of the relationships, earliest memories of them, feelings for each
other.