The life story group
We study narrative identity, the life stories people craft to connect their remembered past to their lived present and imagined future.
The group consists of researchers at the Department of Psychology and close colleagues from other Danish research institutions. We collaborate with both national partners and international researchers.
We pursue research in the following three areas:
- Narrative identity and mental health. We conduct a range of studies trying to answer questions about how narrative identity is involved in well-being, mental illness, personal recovery, grief, suicidality, and work-related resilience.
- Vicarious stories. We study the relationship between personal and vicarious stories, that is, the stories individuals construct for others (e.g., their romantic partner, colleagues, and parents). We also examine the functions and characteristics of vicarious stories.
- Narrative identity and autobiographical memory. We seek to elucidate the relationship between memory and life stories, with a particular focus on memory for extended periods that serve as chapters in life stories.
People
Dorthe Kirkegaard Thomsen
I work from the assumption that narrative is a key process in how individuals make sense of themselves, other people, and the communities they are a part of. Variations in how people construct narratives shape a range of outcomes, including well-being, interpersonal closeness, prosocial behavior, and coping with adversity such as mental illness. With this starting point, I research a range of topics, including how individuals use their memory to create coherent past and future life stories, how they construct vicarious stories about other people and the functions of these stories, and how narrative identity interacts with mental illness and personal recovery. I apply experimental, diary, and survey methodologies and have recently developed an interest in qualitative approaches. I believe the insights we have achieved in our work can benefit the general public as well as various professional groups and gladly accept invitations to share our research with relevant stakeholders.
Dela Sawatzki
"When you meet a new person, one of the first questions is often ‘what do you do’ and it often becomes synonymous with who you are."
In my PhD project I investigate the relation between identity and resilience at work. I use the Work Life Story interview to understand people’s narrative work identity. I focus mainly on teachers in Germany and the school as a work environment. I use quantitative as well as qualitative methods in my study and contribute to resilience research by applying a narrative identity perspective. I believe that work, including the particular job, work environment and colleagues, is a huge part of everyone’s identity which is illustrated by the above quote of one of my participants.
Marie Tranberg Hansen
In my Ph.D. project, I examine the relationship between suicidality and narrative identity. Specifically, I focus on the emotional qualities of past and future life story chapters in individuals with different levels of suicide risk, aiming to uncover possible impacts of narrative identity on suicidality. I believe that adopting a narrative identity perspective can provide novel insights in the field of suicide research, with the potential to enhance treatment approaches in suicide prevention and other healthcare services.
Dinne Skjærlund Christensen
In my research I explore the dynamic relationship between personality and health, spanning both physical and mental health. My work intersects multiple research fields, including personality psychology, clinical psychology, and health psychology. My current focus is on how narrative identity is related to mental health, and as part of this work I am designing and evaluating a narrative identity intervention to support personal recovery. I advocate for mixed-method approaches to better understand the effects and mechanisms of therapeutic interventions. Further, I am interested in how users may best be involved in the process of developing and testing psychological interventions to ensure that they are both effective and meaningful.
Close collaborators
Majse Lind
Website: https://vbn.aau.dk/en/persons/152551
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=fwN6LfIAAAAJ&hl=en
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Majse-Lind-2
Majse Lind is an assistant professor at Aalborg University, Denmark. She studies personality and personality pathology with a main focus on narrative identity, mentalization, and mechanisms of change in psychotherapy.
Lennart Kiel
Lennart Kiel is a postdoc at Aalborg University, Denmark. His research focuses on the interplay between personality traits and identity, as well as how these factors influence personality disorders, everyday functioning, and changes during psychotherapy.
Henrik Marschall
My research revolves around understanding chronic pain and its impact, primarily in people suffering from endometriosis. My projects include examinations of a) patient- and clinician-perspectives, b) relationships between illness narratives and mental health, and c) medical research related to endometriosis. For my PhD, I am conducting a randomized, controlled surgical trial to assess the pain-relieving effect of surgery for peritoneal endometriosis, as well as an exploration of the patient- and clinician-perspectives on receiving and administering surgery for endometriosis, respectively.
Christopher Ebbrecht
Christopher Kehlet Ebbrecht received his PhD in psychology from Aarhus University in 2023. His research focuses on grievance-fueled violence, radicalization into violent extremism, and other forms of societal conflict and discontent. Currently, Christopher is exploring the potential of a master narrative identity framework in understanding and preventing traditional and contemporary radicalization processes. His research comprises both quantitative (e.g. large-N surveys, survey experiments) and qualitative (e.g. semi-structured interviews, document analyses) methods.
Tine Holm
Tine studies memory, life stories, and identity in individuals with severe mental illness. She is also involved in research on self-injury, coercion in psychiatric healthcare, and trauma-informed care. In addition to her research, she works as a clinical psychologist in an outpatient unit for individuals with dual diagnoses i.e. co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse.
Rikke Jensen
Rikke Jensen received her Ph.d. in psychology from Aarhus University in 2020. In her Ph.d., she examined narrative identity and well-being in aging and in psychopathology. She continues to work on narrative identity and psychopathology and is especially involved in healthcare research related to involvement of patients and relatives in research and mental healthcare, involvement of children in adult mental healthcare, involvement of peerworkers in mental health care, and development and implementation of complex healthcare interventions. She is also devoted to educational research, where she involves patients and their stories to mitigate stigma related to mental health issues. Rikke is currently employed as assistant professor at the Center for Involvement of Relatives, Mental Healthcare Services, Region of Southern Denmark, and the Institute for Regional Health Research, University of Southern Denmark.
Anne Mai Pedersen
Anne Mai Pedersen received her Ph.D. in psychology from Aarhus University in 2022. In her studies she investigated narrative identity and self-understanding in chronic mental and somatic illness. After her Ph.D. she continues researching in the fields of narrative identity, quality of life, and psychological and interdisciplinary intervention in chronic illness populations. Anne Mai is currently employed as a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, and as a clinical psychologist at the National Center for Autoimmune Diseases, Aarhus University Hospital.
National partners
Skejby University Hospital
Recoveryskolen, Aarhus Muncipality
Unit for Bereavement Research, Aarhus University
Happy Lab, Aarhus University
PsykInfo Region of Southern Denmark.
International collaborators
Jonathan Adler, Olin College of Engineering
Jack Bauer, University of Dayton
Susan Bluck, University of Florida
Robyn Fivush, Emory University
Dan McAdams, Northwestern University
David Pillemer, University of New Hampshire
Mike Slade, University of Nottingham
Publications
Danish publications
Thomsen, D.K., Holm, T., Jensen, RAA., Lind, M., Pedersen A.M. (2023). Ny forskning: Narrativ identitet, psykisk lidelse og personlig recovery. Magasinet P.
Lind, M. (2019). Særegne livshistorier hos patienter med borderline personlighedsforstyrrelse. Magasinet P, 24-26
Lind, M. (2019). Flere generations livshistorier har gjort dig til den, du er i dag. Hearts & Minds, 11-12
Jensen, R.A., Lind, M., Pedersen, A.M., & Thomsen, D.K. (2018). Livshistorier. In Nørrelykke, H & Hansen, B. (Eds.), Professionelle samtaler og empatiske relationer (pp 123-158). København: Hans Reitzels Forlag Denmark
Thomsen, D.K. (2013). Tænkepauser: Livshistorien. Aarhus University Press.
Thomsen, D.K. (2007). Hvad er livshistorier gjort af? Magasinet Humaniora, 22, 18-21.
Christensen, I. & Thomsen, D.K. (2006). Erindring og livshistorie. PsykologNyt, 60, 22-29.
English publications
Jensen, R.A.A., Holm, T., Brand, S.L., Slade, M., & Thomsen, D.K. (in press). The impact of life story work during peer worker training: Identity reconstruction, social connection, and recovery. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal.
Thomsen, D.K., Fivush, R., Coman, A., Hirst, W., Luminet, O., & Pillemer, D. (in press). A framework for vicarious and collective memory, future projections, and narrative identity. Nature Reviews Psychology.
Thomsen, D.K., Cowan, H.R., & McAdams, D.P. (2025). Mental illness and personal recovery: A narrative identity framework. Clinical Psychology Review, 116, 102546.
Pedersen, A.M., Straarup, K.N., Holm, T., Sawatzki, D., Hansen, M.T., & Thomsen, D.K. (2024). Illness and narrative identity: Examining past and future life story chapters in individuals with bipolar disorder, diabetes mellitus, or no chronic illness. Memory, 32(7), 819-832.
Pillemer, D.B., Thomsen, D.K., & Fivush, R. (2024). Vicarious memory promotes successful adaptation and enriches the self. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 13(2), 159–171.
Thomsen, D.K., Bluck, S., Lundorff, M., & O’Connor, M. (2024). “I changed after the death”: Symptoms of psychopathology predict lower agency and communion themes in loss narratives over 16 months. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 1-14.
Thomsen, D.K., Christensen, T.Ø., Hansen, M.T., & Slade, M. (2024). Mental health staff perspectives on personal recovery: A narrative study on positive professional impact of recovery-oriented care. Journal of Recovery in Mental Health, 7(1), 12-30.
Thomsen, D.K., Pedersen, A.M., & Salgado, S. (2024). The experiences that define us: autobiographical periods predict memory centrality to narrative identity. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 13(2), 273–281.
Turner, A.F., Thomsen, D.K., Tuval-Mashiach, R., Sevilla-Liu, A., Cowan, H.R., Sumner, S., & McAdams, D.P. (2024). Narrative identity in context: How adults in Japan, Denmark, Israel, and the United States narrate difficult life events. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 127(6), 1263–1287.
Lind. M (2023). Situating narrative identity within its disturbed narrative ecology. Frontiers in Psychiatry.
Lind, M., Kiel, L., Hansen, S.B., Jørgensen, M.S., Simonsen, E. (2023). Narrative identity within mentalization-based group therapy for adolescents: A feasibility study. Children, 10(5), 854.
Thomsen, D.K., Holm, T., Jensen, R.A.A., Lind, M. & Pedersen, A.M. (2023). Storying mental illness and personal recovery. Cambridge University Press.
Bauer, J.J. & Thomsen, D.K. (2022). Introduction to the special issue on “Storying the Good Life: Pathways and Pitfalls to Adaptive Narrative Identity”. Journal of Research in Personality, 101, 104309.
Dunlop, W. L., Lind, M., Harake, N., Lee, D., Sedano, A., Ring, C., & Davis, J. P. (2022). Motivational and affective themes in the life stories of underserved emerging adults: A pilot study. The International Journal of Reminiscence and Life Review, 9(1), 1-8.
Dunlop, W. L., & Lind, M. (2022). On attachment and evolution: Recounting the story of, and stories in, attachment theory. In T. Shackelford (ed.), The Cambridge handbook of evolutionary perspectives on sexual psychology. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Dunlop, W. L., Lind, M., & Hopwood, C. J. (2022). Synthesizing contemporary integrative interpersonal theory and the narrative identity approach to examine personality dynamics and regulatory processes. Journal of Personality, 1– 14.
Lind, M. (2022). Fulfilling or failing to fulfill narrative developmental themes: An indicator of living into the good life in late adolescence. Journal of Research in Personality, 100, 104283.
Lind, M., Mroz, E., Sharma, S., Lee, D., Bluck, S. (2022). Emerging adults’ outlook on the future in the midst of COVID-19: The role of personality profiles. Journal of Adult Development, 1-13.
Lind, M., Sharp, C., & Dunlop, W. L. (2022). Why, How, and When to integrate narrative identity within dimensional approaches to personality disorders. Journal of Personality Disorders, 1–22.
Pedersen, A.M., Straarup, K.N., & Thomsen, D.K. (2022): “My life disappeared in illness”: bipolar disorder and themes in narrative identity. Memory, 30 (7), 857-868.
Jensen, R.A.A., Thomsen, D.K., Lind, M., Ladegaard, N. & Fuglsang, V.B. (2021). Storying the past and the future: Agency and communion themes among individuals with schizophrenia and depression. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 209 (5), 343-352.
Lind, M., Bo, S., Vanwoerden, S., Sharp, C. (2021). The role of narrative identity in the intrapsychic reasoning system. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment.
Lind, M., Dunlop, W., Simonsen, S. (2021). Incorporating narrative repair in the treatment of avoidant personality disorders: A case in point. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 77(5), 1176-1188.
Lind, M., Bluck, S., & McAdams, D. P. (2021). More vulnerable? The life story approach highlights older people’s potential for strength during the pandemic. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 76(2), e45-e48.
Lind, M. (2021). ICD-11 personality disorder: The indispensable turn to narrative identity. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12, 121.
Marschall, H., Hansen, K.E., Forman, A., & Thomsen, D.K. (2021). Storying endometriosis: Examining relationships between narrative identity, mental health, and pain. Journal of Research in Personality, 91, 104062.
Thomsen, D.K., Pfattheicher, S., & Dunlop, W.L. (2021). Authoring esteem: Writing about vicarious and personal life story chapters boosts state self-esteem. Personality Science, 2, 1-14.
Thomsen, D.K., Talarico, J.M., & Steiner, K.L. (2021). When does a wedding mark the beginning of a new chapter in one’s life? Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 62 (5), 675-682.
Holm, T., Thomsen, D.K., Huling, K.S., Fischer, M.W., & Lysaker, P.H. (2020). Narrative identity, metacognition, and well-being in patients with schizophrenia or HIV. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 208, 958-965.
Jensen, R.A.A., Thomsen, D.K., O'Connor, M., & Mehlsen, M.Y. (2020). Age differences in life stories and neuroticism mediate age differences in subjective well-being. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 34, 3-15.
Jensen, R.A.A., Thomsen, D.K., Fuglsang, V.B., & Ladegaard, N. (2020). Narrative identity in psychopathology: A negative past and a bright but foreshortened future. Psychiatry Research, 290.
Lind, M., Adler, J. M., & Clark, L. A. (2020). Narrative identity and personality disorder: an empirical and conceptual review. Current Psychiatry Reports, 22(12), 1-11.
Lind, M., Bluck, S., & Åkerlund*, H. (2020). Adults’ memories of childhood: The beginning of the life story. In Autobiographical Memory Development (pp. 148-160). Routledge.
Lind, M., Vanwoerden, S., Penner, F., & Sharp, C. (2020). Narrative coherence in adolescence: relations with attachment, mentalization, and psychopathology. Journal of Personality Assessment, 102(3), 380-389.
Thomsen, D.K., Panattoni, K.W., Allé, M.C., Wellnitz, K.B., & Pillemer, D.P. (2020). Vicarious life stories: Examining relations to personal life stories and well-being. Journal of Research in Personality, 88.
Leichtman, M., Steiner, K., Camilleri, K.A., Pillemer, D.B., & Thomsen, D.K. (2019). What happened in kindergarten? Mother-child conversations about life story chapters. Memory, 27, 49-62.
Lind, M., Demiray, B., Bluck, S. (2019). Identifying distinct sets of predictors of specific functions of autobiographical memory. Memory, 27(9), 1313-1318.
Lind, M., Vanwoerden, S., Penner, F., & Sharp, C. (2019). Inpatient adolescents with borderline personality disorder features: Identity diffusion and narrative incoherence. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 10(4), 389-393.
Lind, M., Jørgensen, C.R., Heinskou, T., Simonsen, S., Bøye, R. & Thomsen, D.K. (2019). Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder show increased agency in life stories after 12 months of psychotherapy. Psychotherapy, 56, 274-284.
Lind, M., Thomsen, D.K., Heinskou, T., Simonsen, S., Bøye, R. & Jørgensen, C.R (2019). Personal and parents’ life stories in patients with borderline personality disorder. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 60, 231-242.
Panattoni, K.W., Nielsen, K.N., & Thomsen, D.K. (2019). Heart-followers, hero, maiden: Life story positioning within a romantic couple. Qualitative Psychology.
Steiner, K., Pillemer, D.B., & Thomsen, D.K. (2019). Writing about life story chapters increases self-esteem: Three experimental studies. Journal of Personality, 87, 962-980.
Thomsen, D.K., Jensen, R.A.A., & Mehlsen, M.Y. (2019). One-year stability in life story chapters and memories among emerging, middle-aged, and older adults. Journal of Research in Personality, 82.
Thomsen, D.K. & Vedel, A. (2019). Relationships among personal life stories, vicarious life stories about mothers and fathers, and well-being. Identity, 19, 230-243.
Holm, T., Thomsen, D.K., & Bliksted, V.F. (2018). Themes of unfulfilled agency and communion themes in life stories if patients with schizophrenia. Psychiatry Research, 269, 772-778.
Panattoni, K.W. & Thomsen, D.K. (2018). My partner’s stories: Relationships between personal and vicarious life stories within romantic couples. Memory, 26, 1416-1429.
Thomsen, D.K., Lundorff, M., Damkier, A., & O’Connor, M. (2018). Narrative identity and grief reactions: A prospective study of bereaved partners. JARMAC, 7, 412-421.
Holm, T & Thomsen, D.K. (2018). Self-event connections in life stories, self-concept clarity, and dissociation: Examining their relations with symptoms of psychopathology. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 37, 293-317.
Lind, M. & Thomsen, D.K. (2018). Functions of personal and vicarious life stories: Identity and empathy. Memory, 26, 672-682.
Pedersen, A.M., Straarup, K.N., & Thomsen, D.K. (2018). Narrative identity in female patients with remitted bipolar disorder: A negative past and a foreshortened future. Memory, 26, 219-228.
Holm, T., Pillemer, D.B., Bliksted, V. & Thomsen, D.K. (2017). A decline in self-defining memories following a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 76, 18-25
Steiner, K.L. Thomsen, D.K., & Pillemer, D.B. (2017). Life story chapters, specific memories, and conceptions of the self. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 31, 478-487.
Thomsen, D.K., Lind, M., & Pillemer, D.P. (2017). Examining relations between aging, life story chapters, and well-being. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 31, 207-215.
Thomsen, D.K. & Pillemer, D.B. (2017). I know my story and I know your story:
Developing a conceptual framework for vicarious life stories. Journal of Personality, 85, 464-480.
Holm, T., Thomsen, D.K., & Bliksted, V.F. (2016). Life story chapters and narrative self-continuity in patients with schizophrenia. Consciousness and Cognition, 45, 60-74.
Thomsen, D.K., Matthiesen, S., Frederiksen, Y., Ingerslev, H.J., Zachariae, R., & Mehlsen M.Y. (2016). Trait anxiety predicts the emotional valence of meaning-making in life stories: A 10-year prospective study. Personality and Individual Differences, 102, 51-55.
Thomsen, D.K., Steiner, K.L., & Pillemer, D.B. (2016). Life story chapters: Past and future, you and me. JARMAC, 5, 143-149.
Pillemer, D.B., Steiner, K.L., Kuwabara, K.J., Thomsen, D.K., & Svob, C. (2015). Vicarious memories. Consciousness & Cognition, 36, 233-245.
Thomsen, D.K. (2015). Autobiographical periods: A review and central components of a theory. Review of General Psychology, 19, 294-310.
Thomsen, D.K., Jensen, T., Holm, T., Olesen, M.H., Schnieber, A., & Tønnesvang, J. (2015). A 3.5 year diary study: Remembering and life story importance are predicted by different event characteristics. Consciousness and Cognition, 36, 180-195.
Steiner, K.L., Pillemer, D.B., Thomsen, D.K. & Minigan, A.P. (2014). The reminiscence bump in older adults' life story transitions. Memory, 22, 1002-1009.
Thomsen, D. K., Olesen, M. H., Schnieber, A. & Tønnesvang, J. (2014). The emotional content of life stories: Positivity bias and relation to personality. Cognition and Emotion, 28, 260-277.
Pillemer, D. B., Thomsen, D. K., Kuwabara, K. & Ivcevic, Z. (2013). Feeling good and bad about past and future self. Memory, 21, 210-218.
Thomsen, D.K., Olesen, M.H., Schnieber, A., Jensen, T. & Tønnesvang, J. (2012). What characterizes life story memories? A diary study of freshmen’s first term. Consciousness and Cognition, 21, 366-382.
Thomsen, D. K., Pillemer, D. B. & Ivcevic, Z. (2011). Life story chapters, specific memories and the reminiscence bump. Memory, 19, 267-279.
Thomsen, D.K., Schnieber, A. & Olesen, M. H. (2011). Rumination is associated with the phenomenal characteristics of autobiographical memories and future scenarios. Memory, 19, 574-584.
Thomsen, D.K. (2009). There is more to life stories than memories. Memory, 17, 445-457.
Thomsen, D.K. & Berntsen, D. (2009). The long-term impact of emotionally stressful events on memory characteristics and life story. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 23, 579-598.
Thomsen, D.K. & Berntsen, D. (2008). The cultural life script and life story chapters contribute to the reminiscence bump. Memory, 16, 420-436.
Thomsen, D.K. & Jensen, A.B. (2008). Memories and narratives about breast cancer: Exploring associations between turning points, distress and meaning. Narrative Inquiry, 17, 349-370.
Thomsen, D.K. & Berntsen, D. (2005). The end point effect in autobiographical memory – more than a calendar is needed. Memory, 13, 846-861.
Examples of outreach activities
Interview for the introduction to “Livshistorier – 44 fortællinger fra de aarhusianske plejehjem”, Aarhus Kommune.
Lectures at the Open University on life stories, well-being, and aging.
Lectures on life stories for various organizations, including Ældresagen and events organized by local church communities.
Life story course at pastor seminar.
Presentation: Narrative identity, mental illness, and personal recovery, at Psykiatriens Hus.
Contact
For inquiries regarding the research and our activities, please contact:
