Integration of psychobiography into professional training in clinical and counselling psychology: Strategies and prospects

Psychobiography or the in-depth interpretation of the life and experiences of a single individual who made a significant impact on society has a long history in academic psychology. In psychological practice, similar methods are often employed to write a case formulation. Yet, the infusion of psychobiography into professional psychology training continues to lag, even though there are apparent overlaps between psychobiography and clinical work. This article delineates these overlaps. One such overlap is the psychobiography focus on the individual within the socio-cultural context, regarded as important in making sense of the individual. Similar to this is the focus within training on socio-cultural context in understanding the client, a clinical skill which forms part of case formulations. This article proposes the integration of the psychobiography into professional psychology training in clinical and counselling psychology adopting practices such as (i) anchoring students in their professional identity and history; (ii) learning different theories of psychology in applied and interesting ways; (iii) stimulating interdisciplinary learning and ethical awareness; (iv) enhancing clinical skill development; (v) supporting methodological pluralism; and (vi) enhancing multicultural, social justice, and multilingual competence. We further suggest how the integration of psychobiography into the training may occur through a short course or merging it into existing modules within the training curriculum. To this end, professional psychology training could be transformed by the introduction of psychobiography with its focus on history, culture as context, personality theory, theory development, and the links between these fields in understanding the individual as client.