Narrative processing of difficult life experiences

Constructive narrative processing of negative personal events is an important condition for coping with the event and achieving an optimal psychological state. The aim of this study is to provide an overview of research on narrative processing of difficult life events, both from the perspective of the partial processes involved and from the perspective of integration into the con- text of the overall life story and autobiographi- cal reasoning. Some of the most common constructs that are examined in relation to adaptive narrative processing include exploratory narration, positive resolution (including redemptive sequences), agency, communion and coherence. An equally fruitful perspective on narrative processing offer qualitative studies of narrative construction.