Sistematización de un Modelo Fenomenológico-Narrativo para el Análisis del Relato Autobiográfico Durante el Proceso Psicoterapéutico

Abstract

This article is aimed at characterizing and systematizing the method developed by Duero and Limon Arce (2007) for the analysis of autobiographical accounts. This is a phenomenological and narrative procedure intended to evaluate the coherence and composition of this kind of discursive production. It considers 2 dimensions: thematic-structural and functional. These authors have identified and classified narrative strategies and styles for the construction of autobiographical accounts by university students and patients with mental pathology. Their data have shown consistency and have provided some initial evidence for the method's validity. The procedure appears to have made it possible to recognize characteristic and differentiated narrative patterns in different subsamples. The original procedure has undergone some modifications over time which have been partially described in subsequent articles, but not always systematically. This study offers a detailed description of the analysis categories and stages of the procedure, along with comments on recent progress. A discussion is presented on the usefulness of the method for characterizing the dynamics and evolution of the autobiographical accounts constructed by patients throughout the psychotherapy process. This discussion is informed by preliminary data based on recent research. In these studies the procedure have been applied in the initial and final sessions of a psychotherapy and in "stuck" episodes and episodes of therapeutic change. Preliminary results indicate that patients' narratives display particular characteristics that the model allows to recognize and differentiate. The implications and potentialities of the proposal are evaluated and discussed.