Narrative Identity 101

February 17, 2012

So if our identities are just stories... what does that mean for our lives, our memories, our mental health? Jonathan Adler is a psychologist who studies narrative identity. He tells Jim Fleming that his research found that our sense of well-being is based on the tone of our internal narratives rather than the stories themselves.




My apologies - the previous comment was for another interview. This dialog was very good regarding "narrative identity" and "agency." Could it be that compassion / love/ redemption in the process of therapy is what increased people's positive evolution in self development and mental health? Very nice dialog on how a "redemption sequence" is good for mental health while a "contamination sequence" is bad for mental health. Sorry again for the previous incorrect comment posting. Felix Chau, MD

I'm loving this program and all the others using the latest brain/mind science to confirm the positive and healthy direction and practices.

I'm a bicyclist. First, one that had problems with cars, then the opposite, one that loved getting along with other people - as drivers - regardless of their vehicle. And all this change started decades ago with just a change in my view (my internal story) of the driving environment.

Today, I would sum it up with this question: Does your bicycling reflect the kind of person you want to be? Helpless vulnerable victim, dependent upon engineering your separation from challenges while indulging in ex post rationalizations of those bicyclists not having problems? Or, curious resilient persistent with the character to look for and learn from examples of success?

Has popular bicycling advocacy become the story of mental ill health? While those bicyclists with success and great mental health are disregarded and even ridiculed.

It's time to retell the bicycling story, and many others, in light of this amazing intelligence.

I recommend following up with these two books: Mindset The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck


David Smith

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