Finding Your Story Themes
What is most important in your life?
Telling and re-telling our story is an important part of therapy. I have created this series of exercises to help you identify key elements of your personal narrative and to practice reflecting upon and authoring your life story. These exercises do not take the place of therapy, but are intended as a form of creative self-discovery and expression. As you learn more about yourself through this process, you may want to bring the insights you gain here to your work with your therapist.
This wellness wheel is also available here.
In this exercise, we will identify the driving themes that run through your personal life story. We can use several tools to help us identify important life themes. The first tool we will use today is known as a wellness wheel. This wheel is divided into ten essential domains of wellness. Take a moment to review the wheel and consider how you feel about each domain in your life.
The seven, most-commonly-identified domains of wellness are:
Physical wellness: how we move our bodies, what we eat and drink, our medical care, our experiences of pain and sleep
Environmental wellness: how we maintain our personal spaces, our relationship to nature
Spiritual wellness: how we find meaning and purpose in life; our ethics, morals and values
Emotional wellness: how we identify, express and manage our feelings
Occupational wellness: our professional fulfillment, our work/life balance, the pride we take in our work
Intellectual wellness: our experiences of creativity, curiosity, learning, teaching and critical thinking
Social wellness: the relationships in our life; our sense of community; our experiences with trust, boundaries and communication
In addition to the above domains, I have added three more that I often encounter in therapy. You might notice that these domains each have some overlap with the seven above.
Financial wellness: our experiences of financially secure; access to shelter, nutrition and quality of life
Sexual wellness: our experiences of safety and pleasure in sexual settings; our experiences of desired romantic and sexual intimacy with whomever we choose
Cultural wellness: our sense of connection and belonging within our chosen cultural groups; our experience of acceptance and validation in our identities
As you read over these descriptions, please ask yourself:
In which areas am I currently thriving?
In which areas am I currently struggling?
Which areas hold the largest priority in my life today?
What changes would I like to see to my wellness domains?
The second tool we will use in this exercise is known as the social identity wheel. On this wheel, you will find several different dimensions of identity. Some of these may be more core to our identity while others may be secondary.
This social identity wheel is also available here.
As you read over the dimensions on the wheel, please ask yourself:
What identities do I think about most often?
What identities do I think about least often?
What identities would I like to learn more about?
What identities have the greatest effect on how I perceive myself?
What identities have the greatest effect on how I am perceived?
Looking over your responses, what themes are most important in your life? Are there other relevant themes that are not captured anywhere in these tools? Please write down any themes you identify.
Once you feel satisfied with your list, please rank your three most important themes.
For each theme, please ask yourself:
How does this theme show up in my life today?
When does this theme become a problem in my life?
What goals do you have with regards to this theme?
What do you imagine your life will be like when this goal has been met?
How will you know you have met your goal?
What barriers do you anticipate facing on your way to achieving this goal?
The themes and goals you have identified during this exercise could be used as a starting point for setting therapy goals with a mental health professional.
If you enjoyed this activity, you may also enjoy these other exercises exploring your story’s main character and setting.
Dimensions of wellness taken from the University of Delaware (https://www.udel.edu/academics/colleges/canr/news/2021/february/how-to-use-a-wellness-wheel/)
Social identity wheel taken from the University of Michigan (https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/inclusive-teaching/social-identity-wheel/)
