The purpose of this study is to present the interlinkages of psychobiography and autoethnography from an autoethnographical viewpoint.
This study is anchored in a qualitative narrative autoethnographical research approach, presenting one case vignette of an autoethnographical account dealing with a psychobiography of the writer Paulo Coelho.
Findings show how psychobiography and autoethnography are interlinked through the psychobiographical subject, the psychobiographer, their lives and life developments, their dreams, identity definitions and similarities in life themes.
The study is limited to selected theoretical and methodological research frameworks and the case vignette. It reflects the autobiographical views on the psychobiographical subject researched.
The study provides guidelines for psychobiographical and autoethnographical researchers on self-reflection regarding psychobiographical subject choice and the positive psychological potential of both psychobiography and autoethnography.
Psychobiography and autoethnography can be used as tools to increase mental health through (self-)reflection, the life of extraordinary individuals and the self.
This is a very valuable approach to explore psychobiography and autoethnography in combination. It contributes to the scarce literature in the area of research.
Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people.
– Carl Gustav Jung.
1. Introduction
Both psychobiography and autoethnography offer unique, intertwined approaches to understanding the complexities of human experience across the lifespan. On the one hand, psychobiography applies psychological theories to life histories of extraordinary individuals, revealing how personal narratives shape identity and behaviour in a specific sociocultural and historical context (Chenail, 2024; Schultz, 2005; Mayer et al., 2023; van Niekerk, 2021). On the other hand, autoethnography allows researchers to use their own subjective lived experiences as a means to engage with broader cultural and social dynamics (Ellis et al., 2010). Furthermore, autoethnography fosters empathy, creativity, innovation and vulnerability (Custer, 2014).
This article explores psychobiography and autoethnography to deepen the understanding of the person, while recognising their interconnections, complementarities and boundaries. It thereby refers to Carlson (1988) who asked the question: “Where is the person in personality research?”.
It is argued that both psychobiography and autoethnography can create rich, transformative pathways to knowledge, in addition to mental health and healing (Mayer, 2025). Both research methodologies can become part of personal and interpersonal reflection, as well as therapeutic intervention (Mayer, 2016a; Mayer, 2025).
In the following, a brief overview of the research fields of psychobiography and of autoethnography is provided. The research methodology is explained and the findings of the researcher concerning the interlinkages between her psychobiographical research and herself as an individual are presented. Following these explorations, conclusions are drawn and recommendations for future research and practice are given.
2. What is psychobiography?
Psychobiography has become a highly popular field in psychological research (Elms, 2007; Ponterotto, 2015) and has been defined as the art of understanding the life of an outstanding individual (McAdams, 2005) while applying psychological theory and being person-centred (Mayer and Mayer, 2026). It is the study of historically significant and extraordinary individuals over their entire lifetimes, with the aim to uncover and reconstruct their lives psychologically (Fouché and van Niekerk, 2010). Psychobiographers use specifically selected psychological theories to focus on particular aspects of personal life courses and their psychological interpretations (Runyan, 2005a, 2005b). Psychobiography has in the past often focused on psychoanalytical theories and has highlighted psychological issues in the lives of selected extraordinary individuals (Elms, 1994). Only recently, new discourses of psychological and sociocultural aspects in psychobiography have been developed (Mayer, 2017a; Mayer et al., 2021, 2023). The latest relevant foci in psychobiography explore the life of women, non-Western, educated, industrialised, rich, democratic (WEIRD) samples and lessons learned from psychobiographies for contemporary life and their practical applications (Mayer et al., 2023).
3. What is autoethnography?
Autoethnography is a qualitative research method which, according to Adams et al. (2013, p. 2), uses a researcher’s personal experience to describe and critique cultural beliefs, practices and experiences. It also acknowledges and values a researcher’s relationships with others, using deep and careful self-reflection (reflexivity) to name and interrogate the intersections between self/society, particular/general, personal/political. Furthermore, it shows people in the process of figuring out what to do, how to live and the meaning of their struggles; it balances intellectual and methodological rigour, emotion and creativity and strives for social justice and to make life better (Adams et al., 2013, p. 2). According to Ellis and Bochner (2000), autoethnography captures individual experiences in sociocultural contexts and in this way becomes the bridge between theory and practice. It interconnects autobiography and ethnography through the voice of the researcher and their personal narrative which serves as a core for understanding identity and sociocultural phenomena (Naxton, 2025; Soini, 2025). Autoethnography builds on the subjective experience of the researcher and their influence on the outcome of research, thereby fostering empathy and authenticity (Sparkes, 2024). It supports the storytelling about personal and sensitive topics (Adams et al., 2013) and focuses on the exploration of the inner self (Chang, 2008).
4. Psychobiography and autoethnography
When exploring both, psychobiography and autoethnography, the following similarities and differences can be found (see Table 1). Both methodological approaches focus on the person in an in-depth way. However, psychobiography focuses on an extraordinary person’s life, while autoethnography explores the inner life of the self, of the authors themselves. Both methodological approaches use theory to analyse and understand the individual within the context of their life, work, personal preferences, feelings and thoughts.
Similarities and differences in psychobiography and autoethnography
| Psychobiography | Autoethnography |
|---|---|
| Explores the life of an extraordinary person in depth | Explores the inner self in depth |
| Uses theory to analyse and understand an individual | Uses theory to analyse and understand an individual |
| Takes sociocultural, historical and/or present surroundings/environments of the individual into consideration or makes them a focus of the development of the individual | Takes sociocultural, historical and/or present surroundings/environments of the individual into consideration or makes them a focus of the development of the individual |
| Presents outstanding events or lifetime developments within an individual | Presents outstanding events or lifetime developments within the self |
| Aims to understand the person in depth in their contexts | Aims to understand the person in depth in their contexts |
| Can use positive psychology approaches (positive psychology movements 1, 2 and 3) | Can use positive psychology approaches (positive psychology movements 1, 2 and 3) |
| May draw from deeper reflections, learnings, lessons learned from psychobiographical research for broader use for individuals, societies and the greater good of the world or humankind | May draw from deeper reflections, learnings, lessons learned from psychobiographical research for broader use for individuals, societies and the greater good of the world or humankind |
In a recent publication, Hopkinson and Niklasson (2025) emphasise that the combined use of psychobiography and autoethnography in research remains surprisingly rare. They introduce a new research methodology called digital collaborative autoethnographical psychobiography which “enables diverse teams to study complex life experiences and mental health issues with depth and nuance” by combining personal storytelling, cultural reflection and psychological analysis.
Autoethnographical reflections can be used to explain the connection between the psychobiographer and the subject they explore.
5. Research methodology
Psychobiography and autoethnography are both qualitative in nature (Yin, 2018). While psychobiographical research aims at exploring the life of an extraordinary individual (Schultz, 2005; Mayer and Kovary, 2019), autoethnography aims at expressing the voice of the self (Poulos, 2021).
This research study uses a hermeneutical research paradigm which embeds the individual within their sociocultural context (Dilthey, 2003). In this case, the author explores the interlinkages of the selected psychobiographies conducted (psychobiography) and the researcher’s personality and her own life (autoethnography). It further applies Runyan’s (2005a, 2005b) concept of historical interpretative psychology. Dilthey’s (2003) hermeneutical approach was chosen because it integrates the analysis of the individual person into the sociocultural context, and it is used in this study to integrate the researcher and the researched within their sociocultural contexts.
5.1 Sample and sampling
In contemporary qualitative studies, often researchers declare their positionality with regard to the subject’s life (Mayer et al., 2021; McAdams, 2023) to position themselves openly and transparently in relation to the subjects researched and to address bias. This research study positions the researcher from an autoethnographical perspective with regard to various psychobiographical subjects whom she studied during the past 10 years. Ethical approval was given by the University of Johannesburg for the psychobiographical studies and also for the autoethnographical accounts.
The findings are written in the first person to present authenticity and the voice of the researcher.
5.2 Quality criteria, ethical considerations and limitations
For this study, qualitative research criteria were defined to make the study confirmable, credible, accurate and to include trustworthiness, credibility, dependability, transferability and confirmability (Miles and Huberman, 1994; Gummesson, 2000; Lincoln et al., 2013; Sinkovics et al., 2008).
Furthermore, this combined study in psychobiography and autoethnography follows ethical principles as presented in recent discourses on psychobiography (Ponterotto and Reynolds, 2019). It is also acknowledged that autoethnographical research interconnects the researcher and the subject of research and thereby presents ethical challenges when the researcher presents their subjective experiences in researching extraordinary subjects (Morse, 2007). This research presents private human experiences that are usually inaccessible (Wyatt, 2005). Autoethnography always carries the risk of vulnerability of the researcher in exposing their inner thoughts, feelings and ideas (Douglas and Carless, 2016).
The study is limited by the chosen theory and research methodology and the presentation of the inner voice of the researcher. It is further limited to a selected autoethnographic case vignette (Humphreys, 2005), which presents examples of psychobiographies conducted by the researcher. With regard to limitations, the study is demarcated by its theoretical and methodological framework, the selected case vignette and the sociocultural and disciplinary background of the researcher as well as the researcher’s biases and ability to reflect, change perspectives, organise, analyse and reorganise data. The case vignette is based on the reflexive approach of the researcher (Koopman et al., 2020) responding to the research questions, the extraordinary individual presented, the research practice and the multiple identity aspects that create the research setting (Lincoln et al., 2013).
6. Case vignette: autoethnographical insights regarding a psychobiographical study of the life and creative works of Paulo Coelho
As a researcher, I began my academic career in the 1990s. I became a cultural anthropologist, specialising in African cultures. I spent several years in East Africa, studying identity, conflict and culture, focusing on qualitative methods and narrations. Later on, I studied women in leadership, their identities, challenges and successes. I never lost interest in the in-depth understanding of the person and storytelling (Mayer and Wolting, 2016), life narration and lifespan development. My interest in psychobiography increased from 2014 onwards, which finally led me to developing a firm interest in exploring the lives of extraordinary individuals. I started to explore these lives from positive psychology and transformative perspectives, developing theory and methodology and reflecting the self in “the other” and vice versa (Mayer, 2017a). I followed the question “who are you?”, aiming to find new insights in the development of the individual, the person. However, I soon discovered that I could not ask this question without reflecting on myself as a person. Many researchers in psychobiography have written about the importance of the relationship between the psychobiographer and their subjects and the challenges of the psychobiographer–subject relationship and the countertransference throughout the research process.
In the following, I provide insights into my research of Paulo Coelho’s life and work and how my life and personal experiences interlink with particular themes in his life.
6.1 The dream of being a writer and philosopher
Elms (1994) highlighted that the psychobiographer is often intrigued by their subject and often unconsciously identify with the historic subject they choose to research.
I always wanted to be a writer. I loved reading and writing from an early age and I always imagined, while reading books of novelists and philosophers, how their lives would look. I imagined Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre or Albert Camus sitting at their typewriters, or Oliver Sacks scribbling notes at any point of the day when he experienced a creative spark. I imagined how exciting it must have been to be part of the circles of philosophers and writers, discussing ideas, philosophical insights, theories and story plots while drinking coffee, smoking and having insightful, in-depth conversations about life and the world. I imagined how they discussed story lines and philosophies of politics in the late mornings in the Café de Flore and Les Deux Magots on the Boulevard Saint-Germain during the 20th century.
For many years and still today, I see black-and-white images of writers in my inner eye – discussing their work in smoke-filled cafes and coffee shops – and I often wish I had lived then, when writers and philosophers took time to discuss in-depth theories, ideas and narratives of the characters they described. I still have a romanticised idea of the life of a writer; for me, writing and philosophy go hand in hand.
As soon as I had learned how to write, I began writing diaries and short stories, constructing storybooks with sketches, writing poetry and short stories. From adolescence onwards, I continually read classical books, philosophical texts, theatre plays, but also crime stories and novels. Wherever I was, I had a few books and my laptop in my bag. However, because I did not believe I had the talent to write novels or stories of interest to anyone else, I thought I could only make it into academia with this mediocre talent since I would not survive solely as a writer or philosopher. Therefore, when I was 16, I decided that I had to survive school to become a professor at a university to being able to write the texts I wanted to write, making an income at the same time. And this is what I did.
I published my first text in 1996, my first book in 2001 and continued to study across disciplines. I focused on qualitative research, narrations and the stories of my research participants to be as close to their own stories as I could. However, the thought never left me that I had actually just wanted to be a writer and philosopher.
6.2 The stories of the world travellers and adventurers
Anchored in my first study path of cultural anthropology, I had been interested in interpretative ethnography (Denzin, 1997) and poetry in ethnography (Clifford and Marcus, 1986), reading books and articles of early ethnographers such as Margaret Mead (1928) who focused on the self in society and culture. I also explored authors in autoethnography, such as Arthur P. Bochner (1997), Ellis (1986, 1993, 1995a, 1995b, 1995c, 1996a, 1996b), William Foote Whyte (1992); Clifford and Marcus (1986) and I developed a strong interest in the self, identity research, culture and personality in the context of ethnography, travelling and cultural contexts beyond Europe. The stories, especially those of ethnographers and autoethnographers, explored faraway cultures and reflections on self and others in cultural contexts and promised adventures.
6.3 Psychobiography
My autoethnographic interest and fascination with narration led me, many years later, to the publication of stories and narrations across cultural contexts (Mayer, 2014, 2016b; Mayer and Wolting, 2016) and the exploration of psychobiography, because it provided a rigorous psychological and theoretical approach to the study of life and its development. In 2014, I decided I wanted to drive a long-term research project in psychobiography and I looked for an interesting psychobiographical subject to explore. Still carrying my internal wish to “just be a writer and philosopher”, I looked at the contemporary writers I enjoyed reading and wondered how they had made it to become extraordinary world-renowned writers. I wondered who they were as individual human beings. Who was the person behind the writer’s mask?
After having reflected on different lives, I decided to explore the world-famous extraordinary writer, Paulo Coelho. I reread all of his books and started to research his entire life, exploring his career development, his family upbringing and the shift in his life to become a writer. I asked myself which strengths contributed to his success and to make his dream come true to earn a living as a writer (Mayer, 2017a). I spent three years reading up on his life and then writing his psychobiography. I developed empathy for the subject and was open to interpret and discover all the information I could about him (Ponterotto and Moncayo, 2018). Whenever I found new information, I tried to understand and examine it based on different perspectives and alternative explanations (Runyan, 1981). I also started dreaming about my subject, as described by Elms (1994) and experienced different feelings about him while entering this strong psychobiographical relationship. At times I was fascinated; at other times, I felt tired of exploring his life, felt I was biased and was sometimes unsure how I finally felt about him and his life, as discussed by Ponterotto and Moncayo (2018).
6.4 Personal reflections on writing about Paulo Coelho at the end of the study
After I had spent three years researching the life and works of Paulo Coelho, I wrote the following (Mayer, 2017a, p. 564):
At the end of the study, I feel strangely familiar with the writer, Paulo Coelho, without having seen him once in my life. After having read so many documents on him, all of his books and many of his documents, articles and comments, the writer seems to be very well known to me, very close. The image that I had held about him three years ago had changed, as emphasised in the quote at the beginning of this chapter (Coelho, 2005), and a new one appeared.
At the end of this study stands a new “story” about the writer Paulo Coelho, about his holistic wellness and his faith development, mirrored by myself. Working through all of the documents on and of Paulo Coelho, analysing the data in the context of the theories and methodologies applied, I am left with mixed feeling on the study and on the subject studied. On the one hand, I am even more fascinated by the phenomenon of Paulo Coelho, his writings and the resources that supported him in becoming such an extraordinary person. On the other hand, I do have even more questions with regard to Paulo Coelho. The key interest in the beginning was the question of the resources that support the writer to cope with life’s challenges and follow his dream. At the end of this study, there are several responses to this question and even more questions. The study showed me that the writer Paulo Coelho has a strong holistic wellness and a strong faith, which both support him in writing and which are both supported through writing. I did expect this, and still, I feel this is only half the story.
I further wrote that I had gained clarity on why I wanted to explore his life (Mayer, 2017a). In summary, I wanted to gain insight into his development and success and understand how he could be an artist and manage his marketing and career at the same time. I realised that I idealised him, because he had managed to live his dream. Consequently, I developed a close relationship to him through my research.
I sometimes felt insecure about my interpretations of his life and tried to contact him personally. Three years later, his manager Monica returned to my request to talk to him, advising that he was not interested in reading the book I had written about him. I was disappointed on several levels about his disinterest in my study, but also about the shadow aspects I had found and explored. However, I also realised that through being a psychobiographer, I was able to combine my analytical research work with the writing of a story of another person’s life, which helped me to reflect on my own life. I realised that there were similarities between the life I had described and my own. I shared an involvement in many topics Coelho wrote about, such as spirituality, faith, going on a pilgrimage, exploring new countries and cultures, travelling, being part of a secret religious order, transforming difficult relationships, the quest of living one’s dream and how to develop one’s faith and spirituality. I further understood that I could use this work not only to develop my research focus but also as a possibility to develop myself and my therapeutic practice. I identified with Coelho to a certain extent and could identify an aspect of what Ponterotto (2014) calls “countertransference” in my writing about him. My psychobiography was limited by my own biases about Coelho, as described by Elms (1994, 2005) who highlights Freud’s identification with and biases towards his subject in his psychobiography of Leonardo da Vinci.
6.5 Reflections 10 years after writing the psychobiography on Paulo Coelho
Almost 10 years after writing the psychobiographical study on Paulo Coelho, I look back at my own development as a psychobiographical researcher, a therapist and an individual. I still hold onto the dream of writing and being a writer, because writing is what I most enjoy doing. However, through my psychobiography on Coelho, I have altered my view of what it means to be a writer. I no longer believe that I have to be a novelist, but instead understand that my strengths lie in academic writing, and in theoretical, methodological and philosophical contributions based on research. The dream of being a novelist has been transformed into living my dream of being a scientific writer who embraces analytical and critical thinking, theory development and philosophy.
Regarding my spiritual development, I still enjoy thinking about and living a spiritual life and I agree with Paulo Coelho’s views on spirituality to a certain extent. Furthermore, I continue to believe that I learned much from this psychobiographical study regarding how Coelho transformed his experienced traumas into having a resilient and mentally healthy approach to life. And I enjoy his inspirational impact on individuals all over the world. He has built a connection with many individuals across cultures through the topic of spirituality and a universal definition of faith, which I believe is a unique and exceptional way of creating connection between humans and a possible way to create peace. I am still fascinated by Coelho’s life; however, my understanding of him as a writer and a person has become more differentiated. Now I consider him more as a human being than an extraordinary writer and I differentiate between his personhood and the ideas he expresses that may help to create healing in the world. I still agree with him on the importance of trusting signs in the world to find our personal path and to live our dreams.
After completing my study on Paulo Coelho, I no longer read much about him. I could even say that I “turned away” from him. However, I learned that the positive psychology approach in exploring the lives of individuals could be very helpful, not only with regard to understanding Paulo Coelho but also to implement it in my research, my therapeutic practice and my own life. Looking back, I can see the impact of writing the psychobiography on Coelho and seeing my internal transformation as a therapist, using a positive psychology approach (from pain and suffering towards flourishing) while working with my clients in therapy. I used positive psychology constructs in dealing with the life stories of my clients and fostered their ability to transform negatively experienced life events and integrate them as learnings and developmental aspects of their lives.
Besides the general focus on positive transformation of one’s own life and meaning-making, the psychobiography on Paulo Coelho helped me to focus on mental health more holistically than before, because I had become aware of applying the holistic wellness model in detail to emerging life events in Coelho’s life. Based on the study, I further explored different concepts and philosophies of mental health, well-being and spirituality in more depth and was able to develop a more differentiated personal understanding of what mental health and well-being means. Based on this first study on Coelho, I worked on other topics, such as magic in Coelho’s life (Mayer and Maree, 2018a, 2018b) and exceptional human experiences (Mayer, 2018). Furthermore, I explored Jung’s work on the shadow sides, masks and the transformation of pain and suffering towards flourishing in more depth (Mayer, 2017b). In addition, I was inspired to work with archetypes (Mayer and Kelley, 2023) and further develop my personal values and characteristics.
Since I had been disappointed that Coelho was not open to looking at himself through the eyes of my psychobiography, I decided to remain open-minded, kind and approachable as a human being and live what I teach. Based on the discrepancy I observed in Coelho’s life between his teachings and his behaviour, I became aware how important it is for me to lead an authentic and holistically integrated life. I further learned on a deeper level to aim to overcome the ego and to live the spiritual life I believe in to “make the world a better place”. Table 2 presents an overview of the short-term and the long-term effects of writing the psychobiography from my autoethnographic point of view:
Autoethnographic self-reflections in 2017 and in 2025
| Short-term effects of writing a psychobiography on Paulo Coelho: 2014–2017 perspectives | Long-term effects of writing a psychobiography on Paulo Coelho: 2025 perspectives |
|---|---|
| Central question: How does one become a successful world-renowned writer? | Central question: How does one overcome the ego, make a positive contribution, transform and “make the world a better place”? |
| Idealisation of Coelho, writing as a person who had lived his dream | Reflection on my own projections onto others and exploring myself from different perspectives |
| Disappointment of wanting to explore the extraordinary, happy and successful side of life | Realising that every flourishing in very successful individuals includes the shadow side of pain and suffering that needs to be overcome. Realisation that I can work with my own pain and suffering to transform it into flourishing and focus on doing so to become a more authentic and holistically integrated individual |
| Developing an “empathetic relationship with the subject” | Developing a positive view of self and others, understanding self and others from deep, systemic meaning-making perspective |
| Doubts and insecurities about my own understanding of Paulo Coelho | Creating a balanced view of self and others in general, while trusting my immediate feeling which usually connects with the inner self, instead of being distracted by the outside glow |
| Disappointment in Coelho’s non-interest in my study on his life and work | Learning to stay open-minded, approachable and interested in other people’s view of the self |
| Idea of being a psychobiographer – an artist and a scientist in one person: the “artistic scientist” | Living my life as a scientific writer and psychobiographer, exploring the individual within cultural contexts |
Using psychobiography in therapy and as a therapeutic tool. Learnings:
| Creating “lessons learned” from psychobiographies on different levels: individual, organisational, societal and global, addressing cultural and universal aspects through psychobiography and identity development. Using psychobiography (with positive psychology and other theoretical approaches) and therapeutic positive autoethnography as tools in therapy, while working on identity topics, personal development needs, cognitive, affective and behavioural transformations. Striving to be a balanced, holistically orientated individual |
| Expectation of developmental potential in psychobiography for my own development | Using psychobiographical research to develop self and others and to develop new research theories, methodologies and philosophies |
Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.
– Chödrön (1997, p. 81).
7. Conclusions and recommendations
The aim of this study was to explore psychobiography from an autoethnographic perspective and to deepen the understanding of the person, while recognising the interconnections, complementarities and boundaries of the psychobiographer and the subject. By taking an autoethnographic standpoint to reflect upon the psychobiographer’s study of Paulo Coelho in the years 2014–2017 and 2025, this study presents autoethnographic insights into writing psychobiography through a case vignette, thereby responding to Carlson (1988) who posed the question: “Where is the person in personality research?”.
It is argued in this study that the person is located in psychobiographical and autoethnographical research, which are both aspects of personality research. Both forms of research may create rich, transformative pathways for knowledge in addition to mental health and healing and might be combined in qualitative research studies. Psychobiography and autoethnography are both research methodologies that can become part of personal and interpersonal reflection, as well as therapeutic intervention.
Findings show how psychobiography and autoethnography are interlinked through the psychobiographical subject, the psychobiographer, their lives and life developments, their dreams, identity definitions and similarities in life themes.
Psychobiography can steer autoethnographical reflection and thereby contribute to new perspectives on the research subject and the self. This article demonstrates that psychobiography can have not only a short-term effect on the psychobiographer but also a long-term impact on the personal development of the psychobiographer at an in-depth, personal level. However, this long-term development needs ongoing internal reflection to create deeper awareness of self and others, not only regarding the psychobiographer and the subject of psychobiography but rather on a more general level of development of self.
Applying autoethnographical insights to psychobiographical investigations could have the following short- and long-term effects on psychobiographers and their work. Autoethnographical self-reflection of the psychobiographer may lead to:
solutions to challenges for individuals across space and time, writing and rewriting of the psychobiographer’s life story (individual level);
lessons learned on short-term and long-term bases and changes in perspectives on self and others in the psychobiographer (individual and societal level);
development of theoretical and methodological constructs in research and research frameworks in psychobiography and psychobiographical frameworks (individual, research and societal levels); and
development of ideas regarding the development of theories and methodologies which may be applied in different organisational or professional contexts (organisational impact, therapeutic level).
This autoethnographical reflection on the process of conducting psychobiographical research and writing a psychobiography on Paulo Coelho’s life brought about changes in the psychobiographer’s life, inner attitude and values, focus and awareness on a personal level. It also created new theoretical and methodological insight and the development of theoretical frameworks and research. Professional changes to the psychobiographer’s therapeutic work were influenced through the use of life stories of extraordinary individuals, autoethnography and positive psychology frameworks in therapy, thereby using “savouring” as a process of attending to and enhancing positive experiences, which are connected to everyday experiences (Bryant and Veroff, 2007).
This article shows that being a psychobiographer and an autoethnographer can have various positive effects on the individual self, on research development in terms of theory and methodology, and at the applied level on therapeutic practice. Furthermore, it could have a spillover effect and societal impact if other researchers and therapists use these research methodologies to create more self-reflective, aware and sensitive individuals who are able to transform negative experiences and shadow sides into positive learnings, personal healing and self-development. Therefore, psychobiography and autoethnography can complement each other, create meaning, mental health and self-development and support individuals to deal with their inner lives, themes and challenges that might be reoccurring until they are resolved. Both research methodologies can help individuals to become aware of these life themes through the view of the self into another person’s life and thereby bring about self-development, healing, mental health and well-being.
In future, more research is needed in establishing ways to combine psychobiography and autoethnography to facilitate new research frameworks, encourage individual development of the researcher and create meaningful applications in professional psychological practice and therapy.
Thanks to Professor Jerome Carson for inviting me to the international conference on “Autoethnography in Mental Health: Multidisciplinary Perspectives”, at the University of Greater Manchester in Bolton, UK, 9-11 September 2025. This article presents a segment of the keynote I delivered at this conference, focusing on my autoethnographic experiences as a psychobiographer of extraordinary individuals.
