How Can Rewriting Your Narrative Help You Gain Closure?

Sometimes it’s only in hindsight that we get a sense of what our story is — a sense of closure. Through reflection, through journaling and re-writing our narrative. This is why reflection and writing our story is so important — it brings closure and even hope as we are able to move forward again. If you are in the middle of a difficult story right now, know that this too will pass and soon you will be able to make sense of it all.

In the book Discourse, Dialogue and Diversity in Biographical Research: An Ecology of Life and Learning, Alan Bainbridge and others explain that the telling of one’s life story can make visible something greater by allowing us to transcend time, reconnecting with both the past and the future, and help us make sense of who we are and what we draw meaning from.

Often termed narrative therapy, this technique finds its origins in New Zealand — a technique developed by therapists Michael White and David Epston — it focuses on re-creating and embracing your own story by assigning meaning to experiences and interactions. The goal is to create a more empowering relationship with the self and others, through shifting and welcoming different perspectives.

And when it comes to closure, we can only understand what has happened to us in hindsight by reflecting back and drawing meaning…