I see engaging with one's own biography and classifying one's own life path as an essential aspect of the art of living. Origin, experiences, private, professional and social contexts form the framework in which biography unfolds, is interpreted and assessed; combined with dreams, longings and desires, this forms the complete work that feeds one's own life plan. Looking at one's own biography reveals lines, breaks and continuities; potential futures emerge and resources for practical action are uncovered. Biographical work is therefore always also self-care with effects on one's environment. 

Biographical reflection always involves looking at oneself. However, in order to discover new things, it is helpful to see things from the perspective of others, as this promotes a connection to the world, the perception of old treasures and the discovery of new perspectives. In this sense, biography is always a social construct, and biographical work creates a space of possibility through interaction with others.

Today's societies are subject to rapid change; knowledge acquired at one point in time no longer lasts a lifetime, and knowledge is no longer automatically passed down from generation to generation. The process of acquiring knowledge is also changing rapidly, and professions that have been learned once must be continually adapted; there is talk of „patchwork career biographies“ in the discourse. The digitisation of communication, everyday life and gainful employment is also predicted to radically transform society and the world of work – without it being clear yet exactly how or in what direction. Things that were previously taken for granted are being questioned at an ever-increasing rate, and new strategies for action are becoming necessary. Biographical reflections and reinterpretations are an important tool here for asserting oneself as an individual and being able to constructively shape one's environment.

Biography work, which emerged from practical experience in the context of social change and individual assertion, is used in various professional fields: in social work, nursing, youth and adult education, coaching and organisational consulting. It draws on influences from various (psycho)therapies, the social sciences, especially biographical research, the historical sciences and, finally, findings from recent brain research. According to Giessen professor Ingrid Miethe, biographical work has the potential „not only to be one method among many, but to establish itself as a conceptual approach in many fields of action“ (Miethe: 9).

In specialist literature, biography is defined as a lifelong process of accumulating and interpreting experiences that consciously or unconsciously influence our interpretation of the world, our present actions and our expectations for the future. Over the past 25 years, it has also been established that people can even be influenced by prenatal experiences, with (unresolved) family issues being passed on (unconsciously) to the next generation. Research into the consequences of the Holocaust and National Socialism was groundbreaking in this regard.

It is also undisputed that we humans make all decisions based on the combination of experiences: experiences from different situations at different times. And finally, as Gabriele Rosenthal put it back in 1995, the process of remembering is based „on a process of reproduction in which the past is subject to constant modification in accordance with the present, the situation of remembrance and the anticipated future“ (Rosenthal 1995: 70). This means that every time a memory is retrieved, it is susceptible to change – a detail is added here, an aspect is omitted there. The memory that is recounted varies depending on the person I am talking to, i.e. who I am telling the story to and what relationship I have with that person or group of people; it varies according to the message I want to convey as the narrator, according to the image I want to project of myself at that moment, and according to the situational context in which it is embedded when spoken. Finally, public discourse and social evaluations influence memories and their interpretation and reinterpretation.

According to the latest findings, the phenomenon whereby unpleasant or even disturbing events are stored more strongly in our memory and recalled more frequently than pleasant and joyful ones is rooted in human survival strategies: In short, the brain evaluates negative experiences as threatening to varying degrees and flags them for attention – the experience should remain available to us so that we can avoid or handle new, comparable situations differently.

Reducing the significance of traumatic experiences and repressing them is also a protective mechanism that prevents us from being destroyed. (By trauma, I mean experiences that exceed the coping mechanisms that the individuals affected have acquired up to that point.) However, we also know from research that if traumatic experiences remain unprocessed, they can have destructive consequences.

In psychotherapy, as in biographical work, the focus is on dealing with one's biography; however, according to specialist discourse, biographical work differs significantly in that it does not assume disorder or illness, but rather builds on biographically anchored (self-)educational processes.

According to research, despite all subjective constructions and reinterpretations, our memories are sufficiently accurate at their core; accurate enough in the sense that the purpose of autobiographical memory is not to store the past as unchanged as possible, but to give us a (distinct) identity and enable us to orient ourselves in the present and for the future – that is, to understand the connection between yesterday, today and tomorrow, which in turn feeds our individual self-confidence and our search for meaning. As a rule, we use our malleable memories to create a positive image of ourselves that we can live with. And this positive self-image is one of the basic prerequisites for mental health.

By „positive self-image,“ I also mean a self-critical process of reflection that, in addition to reconciliation with difficult experiences or unpleasant aspects of oneself, is based on taking responsibility for and learning from destructive behaviour towards myself and others – and results in responsible action.

Biography work as a cognitive, emotional and often sensual process is a way of taking stock and, for people in the middle of their lives, also a way of developing a vision for the future. Remembering one's own roots and ideals of the past, reaffirming one's motives and values, and finally looking at one's own development processes – all of this helps to check whether one's current lifestyle and professional situation are in line with one's inner attitude and desires in life. This, in turn, forms the basis for gaining new perspectives for the future.

Discussing this with others broadens our horizons and provides inspiration. By linking our own experiences with new knowledge and/or combining them with the experiences of others, new ideas emerge and new possibilities arise. And we gain an understanding of others in their otherness, their different decisions and their different strategies for action.

I would like to conclude with a quote attributed to the political philosopher Hannah Arendt, which succinctly captures the essence of biographical work:

„We can't know anything about life unless we tell stories.“

Literature and links

• Assmann, Aleida: The Long Shadow of the Past: Memory Culture and the Politics of History. Bonn 2007
• GEOkompakt. Who am I? New findings from life course research. No. 50, 2017
• Girrulat, Heidrun/ Markert, Elisabeth Christa/ Nischak, Almute/ Schollas, Thomas/ Stachowske, Ruthard: Systemic Memory and Biography Work. Tübingen 2007
• Herriger, Norbert: Resource-oriented biographical work. 2012 http://www.empowerment.de/empowerment.de/files/Materialien-4-Ressourcenorientierte-Biografiearbeit.pdf. Retrieved 22 February 2018
• Klingenberg resident, Hubert/ Ramsauer, Erika: Biography work as a treasure hunt. Fundamentals and methods. For adult education and counselling. 2017
• Miehte, Ingrid: Biographical Work. Teaching and Reference Book for Study and Practice. Weinheim Basel 2017/3
• Rosenthal, Gabriele: Experienced and narrated life stories. Form and structure of biographical self-descriptions. Frankfurt/Main, New York 1995
• Ruhe, Hans Georg: Practical Handbook for Biographical Work. Methods, Topics, Fields. Weinheim and Basel 2014