Trajectory-based methods in clinical psychology: A person centred narrative approach

Life trajectories in clinical psychology research are often not treated as interactive trajectories but rather as static transversal variables. But developmental pathways are often cumulative and conditional and currently require sophisticated group-based modeling to tease out individual differences in trajectories. Clinical psychologists often require personal information on transitions and turning points in life which require eliciting information through qualitative life history approaches. A method is proposed for identifying life events within the person's narrative and describing trajectories as event spaces likely to reflect end-point psychopathology.