ABSTRACT

Patients may struggle to organize their history of present illness due to anxiety, memory impairment, or thought process disorders. Writing a timeline with the patient both organizes the history and also validates the patient’s experience. This technique is especially helpful for patients with co-morbid medical and psychiatric presentations in the context of social stressors. Neurologic and psychotherapeutic evidence explains the utility of this technique. Strategies for successfully integrating this approach into the interview are presented.