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Dissertation - World Federation of Music Therapy

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“There currently exist no consensually validated taxonomies <strong>of</strong> life stories for modern<br />

adults.” (p. 313) However, McAdams mentions that life stories may be classified in<br />

the same schemes as found in narrative theory (cf. section 3.3.1) 25 :<br />

• The Hero’s myth<br />

• The mythic archetypes <strong>of</strong> comedy, romance, tragedy and irony<br />

• The five archetypal actions <strong>of</strong> establishing a home, fighting a battle, taking a<br />

journey, enduring suffering, pursuing consummation<br />

• The four ontologies <strong>of</strong> the self: the dynastic form (positive past -> positive<br />

present), the antithetical form (negative past -> positive present), compensatory<br />

form (positive past -> negative present), and self-absolutory form (negative past<br />

-> negative present)<br />

• The three life narrative processes <strong>of</strong> progress, regress, and stability<br />

• The commitment story: the protagonist with special gift or mission that guides the<br />

behaviour through the life span.<br />

A meaningful life story contributes to mental health, and McAdams suggests six<br />

standards <strong>of</strong> a good life story form (p. 315):<br />

• coherence: the story must make sense on its own terms<br />

• openness: not one solution, but several opportunities for action can be found<br />

• credibility: the story is accountable to known facts<br />

• differentiation: the world <strong>of</strong> the story is complex and has a rich plot<br />

• reconciliation: examples <strong>of</strong> harmonizing or resolving conflicts are given<br />

• generative integration: the personal story is related to a larger social context<br />

McAdams agrees with Spence that ‘narrative truth’ seems to be more important in<br />

psychotherapy than ‘historical truth’, even if it is not enough to guarantee mental<br />

health (p. 314) He also mentions that coherence <strong>of</strong> the life story in psychotherapy is<br />

obtained through a plot line in an aesthetic pleasing form. This leads us, once again,<br />

back to Ricoeur.<br />

25 McAdams’ references include Campbell 1949 (Hero’s myth), Frye 1957 (the mythic archetype),<br />

Elsbree 1982 (the archetypal actions), Hankiss 1981 (the ontologies <strong>of</strong> the self), Gergen and Gergen<br />

1986 (life narrative processes) and McAdams 1985 and 1993 (the commitment story).<br />

71

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