ABSTRACT
In 1972 as a graduate student, I found that “applied autobiographical memory” consisted of, for most professionals, the earliest memory. Period. Full stop. Freud was interested in repressed memories, and how to bring them to consciousness, and Adler the earliest recollection. Bergson provided a philosophical beginning, emphasizing that events were retained in long-term memory following the principle of utility. What makes us recall what we do in autobiographical memory? The answer remained in the shadows. How was the first memory used in therapy? It wasn’t. In assessment? Except for Adlerians, it wasn’t. There was no widely used method to assess autobiographical memory.
