Relational-Developmental Autoethnography: A Method of Qualitative Inquiry that Fosters Personal Growth

Abstract

This paper introduces relational–developmental autoethnography (RDA), a qualitative method for exploring psychological growth through personal writing and reflection. Developed through lived experience, RDA traces psychological development through sustained, recursive engagement with personal writing. Drawing on an archive of my journals, letters, clinical records, and correspondence spanning more than 30 years, I show how writing and reflection were first tools for my survival, and later became catalysts for insight, healing, and transformation. RDA is grounded in two developmental frameworks: Dąbrowski’s theory of positive disintegration, which views emotional intensity and inner conflict as signs of developmental potential, and relational-cultural theory, which recognizes connection and mutuality as essential to growth. I outline five key phases in the emergence of this method and illustrate how recursive engagement with one’s personal archive can foster ethical clarity, self-authorship, and a coherent narrative of becoming. RDA offers a model of inquiry for those navigating difficult life experiences as part of an ongoing process of self-understanding and growth.