Date of Completion
5-31-2026
Degree Type
Open Access Capstone
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
First Advisor
Robert Ricketts
Second Advisor
Jeremy Szteiter
Abstract
This capstone synthesis explores how the family stories we inherit and the stories we tell across generations shape who we become, with particular attention to their impact on identity and mental health. Drawing on narrative identity theory, reflective practice, and relational understandings of family life, it introduces the Recursive Narrative Integration Model, which positions intergenerational storytelling as both a method of inquiry and a mechanism of meaning-making. Informed by a recursive process of creative and reflective writing, this synthesis approaches storytelling not only as an object of study, but as a lived and generative practice through which experience and narrative are explored, interpreted, and reimagined. The model identifies two interdependent cycles—critical and creative thinking and cognitive meaning-making—moderated by intentional engagement with habits of mind such as curiosity, empathy, perspective-taking, metacognition, and reflective practice. Together, these processes support the development of narrative identity and psychosocial resources including belonging, resilience, coherence, and personal growth, while underscoring the relationship between intergenerational storytelling and mental health. The synthesis then presents a series of original short stories that reflect the author's application of aspects of this model, weaving together actual and imagined events of his own family's history as an expression of these concepts.
Recommended Citation
Sholder, Adam, "Narrative Roots - What We Inherit, What We Tell, What We Become: Intergenerational Storytelling, Meaning-Making, and Mental Health" (2026). Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection. 431.
https://scholarworks.umb.edu/cct_capstone/431
Included in
Art Therapy Commons, Creative Writing Commons, Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons
Comments
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