“Authorship of One’s Life”: A Narrative-Oriented, AI-Assisted Intervention for Self-Realization in Crisis-Affected Ukrainian Adults Aged 35–55

Self-realization in mid-adulthood is increasingly disrupted by prolonged societal crises, yet structured, evidence-grounded intervention programs that target the narrative and motivational dimensions of this process remain scarce. This study reports the development and preliminary efficacy testing of “Authorship of One’s Life,” an eight-week, narrative-oriented psychological program that integrates structured group and individual sessions, an artificial-intelligence conversational assistant, and a reflective podcast component for Ukrainian adults aged 35 to 55. A quasi-experimental pre–post design (with sequential participant stratification) with a three-month follow-up was employed, involving 52 participants assigned to an experimental condition (, comprising Reactive and Fragmented narrative profiles) or a control condition (, Adaptive profile). The program was structured around four progressive narrative therapy stages – trust building, problem externalization, re-authoring, and re-membering – drawing on Innovative Moments theory to scaffold narrative transformation across sessions. Outcomes were assessed using five validated psychometric instruments measuring meaning in life, basic psychological needs satisfaction, personal growth initiative, self-reflection, and an original scale of realizational flexibility, administered at four time points. Significant pre–post gains were observed in the experimental group across all primary outcomes, with effect sizes ranging from moderate to large (Cohen ), and gains were maintained at three-month follow-up. Analysis of session transcripts demonstrated a theoretically predicted shift from early-stage to advanced narrative transformation markers. The program demonstrates preliminary efficacy as a scalable, structured intervention for crisis-affected adults.