What Is a Lifeline Chart?

A lifeline chart is a self-therapeutic technique used by people to gain a perspective on their past. It is an adaptation of a psychiatric methodology for charting the cycles of bipolar disorders. That methodology is codified and trademarked as the National Institute of Mental Health Life Chart Methodology, or NIMH-LCM™. The adapted technique known as lifeline charting is much simpler than NIMH-LCM™ because it makes no attempt to correlate life events with therapy.

The Line

• A lifeline chart is done by the subject, not a second party. It begins with a straight line. The start of the line to the left is the subject's date of birth; the termination point to the right is the current date. This lifeline serves as both dateline and baseline for the chart. The line is divided into intervals. To begin, intervals can be as infrequent as every ten years for a middle-aged subject or every five years for a young adult.

The Chart

• According to a lifeline chart from EOS Life-Work, the subject uses the lifeline as the normal line. Recalling his past, the subject notes times of marked deviations from the baseline at the appropriate time points. Lines perpendicular to the baseline are drawn at these points. Lines extended from points of positive deviation extend up, while lines extended from points of negative deviation extend down. The more extreme the deviation from normal, the longer the perpendicular line.

Graphing Your Emotional History

• When the subject is satisfied, a line can be drawn connecting the tips of the perpendicular lines. The result is a crude graph of the subject's perspective of their emotional history. Lifeline charts can be expanded over time. As the subject gains greater insight into his past, a more granular view emerges with new points surfacing to be added to the lifeline chart.