Volume 32 - Number 3 - Summer 2025
Pages: 261 - 389

BOOK REVIEWS

Rozentsvit, I. (2025). The psychobiographer’s handbook: A manual and a compass for writing lives [Review of the book The Psychobiographer’s Handbook: A Practical Guide to Research and Ethics by Joseph G. Ponterotto (2025)]. Clio’s Psyche, 32(3), 379-382.

https://doi.org/10.70763/022e0ee5162c13d9a7bb3bd00fb032ce

The Psychobiographer’s Handbook: A Manual and a Compass for Writing Lives

book review

Abstract

Joseph G. Ponterotto’s The Psychobiographer’s Handbook is a timely, ethically rigorous guide to the psychological interpretation of individual lives. Aimed at scholars and clinicians, it unites methodological clarity with ethical care and keeps interpretation anchored in socio-cultural-historical context. This review highlights the volume’s integration of theory, method, and reflexivity, its lucid account of the field’s development, and its strong pedagogical design. The book functions as both a manual and a compass.

Keywords:

American Psychological Association (APA), biographical research, book review, ethics, Joseph G. Ponterotto, The Psychobiographer’s Handbook: A Practical Guide to Research and Ethics, psychobiography, psychohistory, reflexivity, research methods, socio-cultural-historical context

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About the author

Inna Rozentsvit

Inna Rozentsvit, MD, PhD, MBA, MSciEd, is a neurologist and neurorehabilitation specialist trained in psychoanalysis. She serves as Associate Editor of Clio’s Psyche and Associate Director of the Psychohistory Forum. Dr. Rozentsvit is founder and neuropsychoeducator at the non-profit NeurorecoverySolutions, Inc., Programs Director at the Object Relations Institute for Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, and Editor-in-Chief of the ORI Academic Press, MindMend Publishing Co., and MindConsiliums, the interdisciplinary journal. She may be contacted at or www.innarozentsvit.com.

How to cite this article

Rozentsvit, I. (2025). The psychobiographer’s handbook: A manual and a compass for writing lives [Review of the book The Psychobiographer’s Handbook: A Practical Guide to Research and Ethics by Joseph G. Ponterotto (2025)]. Clio’s Psyche, 32(3), 379-382.

https://doi.org/10.70763/022e0ee5162c13d9a7bb3bd00fb032ce