What is Guided Autobiography (GAB)?
GAB is a process of documenting your life stories with the assistance of a trained facilitator using thematic focus and priming questions to evoke memories of events that might have been kept in the background or even forgotten over time.
The GAB process has been well studied and shown to have the following benefits to participants:
- Increased self-acceptance
- Increased energy and vigor
- Increased positive views of others
- Decreased anxiety and tension
- A feeling of connectedness and friendship
Normala Manap, a gerontologist, talks about the benefits of ‘looking backward’ through life story analysis, and how it enables individuals to ‘look forward to’ the next chapter of their lives. She talks about the benefits of the evidence-based guided autobiography approach and how her workshop helps attendees in multiple ways.
