Like journaling, BioGraffs is a powerful tool for self-reflection. You can use it to think through complex emotions, clarify your thoughts, and visualize your inner story. It’s a great way to get perspective on what you’re feeling or experiencing before you bring it into a conversation with someone else. But unlike journaling, it's not so focused on words and composing sentences. It creates more access to your right brain, where the emotions live By arranging the cubes, you can better understand your own thoughts, identify patterns, and even work through personal challenges. Whether you’re using it to gain clarity for yourself or to prepare for a conversation, BioGraffs can help you process emotional topics.

You can actually do BioGraffs with things you might have around your house. Anything that is small, that you have a lot of, that come in different colors or shapes. You can do it with candy, little pieces of colored paper, nuts and berries. But of course, I think you should really get the kit — the BioGraffs kits are nice with wooden magnetic cubes and whiteboards and support materials. Having the kit helps you set your intention to process things in this unique way. It's something you'll keep coming back to.

A BioGraff isn't a test, a diagnosis, or a system with fixed meanings. Instead, it uses colors, shapes, patterns, and spatial relationships to represent your experience in whatever way makes sense to you. One person might use a cluster of cubes to show feeling overwhelmed, while another might spread cubes across the board to represent possibilities, distance, or uncertainty. A red cube could mean anger, passion, energy, or something entirely different. The meaning comes from you. By turning thoughts and feelings into something visible, BioGraffs helps you step back and see your experience from a new perspective. Many people find that once their thoughts are arranged in front of them, they notice patterns, connections, priorities, and emotions that were difficult to access through words alone. You don't need to be artistic, and there is no right or wrong way to create a BioGraff. The goal isn't to make something beautiful—it's to make something meaningful. You can literally play with your thoughts and feelings outside your head!

Yes! BioGraffs is very effective in a clinical setting either with couples, family, or with individuals. Check out the testimonials for things therapists say about using this method with clients. If you are a therapists, you will want a set for your therapy toolbox! If you are a client, suggest it to your therapist, or bring them a BioGraff you made and talk about it in session. BioGraffs is a totally unique tool to use with your clients, whatever the modality: ​ To help clients who are caught up in their own stories To help people get distance from their story (externalize) To help people talk about hard topics, with you or with a partner To help clients share their life experiences with you To help clients talk about traumatic experiences safely To gain clarity on confusing issues For clients who feel stuck For clients when you are feeling stuck For couples to understand each other better For families that need help hearing each other ​ The BioGraffs method is for any clinician looking for ways to expand their repertoire of approaches, and interested in exploring narrative and storytelling techniques. Externalizing internal narratives affords an opportunity for people to create distance from events and become the protagonist of their own choosing in the stories of their lives. Read more here

I'm Jen Beman, and I invented BioGraffs based on a philosophy of storytelling I developed throughout my career as a documentary editor. I've spent 30 years understanding storytelling, the different ways stories can unfold based on different perspectives in a documentary, and how transformative storytelling can be for the storyteller themselves. ​ It started with talking about sex. In 2016 I started a monthly women's discussion group because I was interested in helping women share their stories about their relationships and their sexual experiences. I thought I might make a documentary about it. I invented an activity for that group that involved using cubes to stand for sexual values. It was so successful in my discussion group that I turned it into an interactive art installation called the Graphic Sex Project to help people tell their sexual stories, de-shame talking about sex, and open up new conversations about preferences. At multiple events across the country, I asked people to make a "graph" of a good sexual experience using colored cubes. The installations were a huge success. People could make a graph, or just browse the collection of graphs other people had made at previous installations. It was a featured event around the DC areas, as well as at several Sex Weeks events at Universities across the country. ​ What I discovered doing these installations was that this quirky way of looking at sexuality was a uniquely powerful way for a person to get a new perspective on their desires, and the graphs they created were a great conversation opener with a partner, sparking deep discussion on a typically difficult topic. ​ I soon realized that this was actually a very helpful way to think about any difficult topic. That couples could benefit from using this tool to open up tricky conversations, or just have a fun night of in-depth discussion of personal topics. I realized that the BioGraffs method creates the a structure that encourages active listening and the space for couples to really hear each other, expound on their perspective, and communicate better. I also saw how it could be a useful tool for therapists to share with their clients. I sought input from psychotherapists, psychologists, and counselors on how to make this tool work for people in clinical settings. In 2022, I teamed up with ACT therapist Joey Salvatore and Dr. Miranda Morris, a psychologist, and together we are working to make this valuable tool more widely available to people, including through therapists, counselors, coaches, and educators.

There's two ways! The first way is to simply think about what's been on your mind or how you've been feeling about something. Is there something you've been thinking about a lot? Make a BioGraff about it. The other way to to browse through the categories on the title-picker, right here on this website. There 15 different life categories and each one has lot of BioGraff-making ideas to inspire you.