Clinical Perspectives on Autobiographical Memory

Autobiographical memory plays a key role in psychological well-being, and the field has been investigated from multiple perspectives for over thirty years. One large body of research has examined the basic mechanisms and characteristics of autobiographical memory during general cognition, and another body has studied what happens to it during psychological disorders, and how psychological therapies targeting memory disturbances can improve psychological well-being. This edited collection reviews and integrates current theories on autobiographical memory when viewed in a clinical perspective. It presents an overview of basic applied and clinical approaches to autobiographical memory, covering memory specificity, traumatic memories, involuntary and intrusive memories and the role of self-identity. The book discusses a wide range of psychological disorders, including depression, PTSD, borderline personality disorder and autism, and how they affect autobiographical memory. It will be of interest to students of psychology, clinicians and therapists alike.

Lynn A. Watson is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences at the University of Aarhus. She obtained her PhD from the University of St Andrews and was awarded a grant by the Danish Council for Independent Research - Humanities (FKK) to conduct autobiographical memory research both with clinical and healthy populations. Dorthe Berntsen is a Professor in the Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences at the University of Aarhus where she was awarded a Centre of Excellence grant from the Danish National Research Foundation to establish the Center on Autobiographical Memory Research. She is the author of Involuntary Autobiographical Memories: An Introduction to the Unbidden Past (Cambridge University Press, 2009).

Advance praise: '... the intellectual dialogues in the book not only shed new light on a variety of memory phenomena and psychopathology, but also agree to disagree to the extent where new questions are generated that are likely to move the field forward in the future ... an excellent reference book for researchers and students of autobiographical memory and psychopathology.' Qi Wang, author of The Autobiographical Self in Time and Culture Advance praise: 'Presenting contributions from many of the foremost memory researchers, this work combines excellent research, theory and a rare focus on clinical implications. A necessary addition to the autobiographical memory literature.' James Erskine, St George's, University of London