Book excerpt: How can understanding our past help us face the future? The key to gaining awareness of the present and preparing for the future lies in our understanding of the past, yet there is little coverage of this topic in the existing psychology and counselling literature. How can people improve themselves by greater self-knowledge? Jeff and Christina Garland break new ground in making a straightforward presentation of the theory and practice of the everyday process of life review, which is atherapeutic approach for helping clients make sense of their past, and can be used to help change undesirable behaviour and plan for the future. The theory and structure of the life review process are examined, and clinical examples of how it works in practice are given; this includes interviews both with "narrators" (people engaged in life review) and "listeners" (health and social care professionals). These examples demonstrate how professionals can use life review to help their clients overcome difficulties in their lives and face the future with confidence. Life Review will appeal to trainees and practitioners in occupational, developmental, clinical and health psychology, social work, counselling, psychotherapy and nursing.