Dr. Cheryl Svensson

Dr. Cheryl Svensson, Ph.D. is Director of the Birren Center for Autobiographical Studies and a
leading international authority on Guided Autobiography (GAB). GAB is a structured life story
writing method created by Dr. James E. Birren, founding dean of the USC School of
Gerontology. Cheryl earned one of the first master’s degrees in gerontology from USC in 1977
and later completed her Ph.D. in psychology at the University of Lund, Sweden.
From the late 1990s until Dr. Birren’s passing in 2016, Cheryl worked alongside him to advance
what he called his most important work: Guided Autobiography. She has taught GAB at USC,
UCLA, and in community settings worldwide, training online nearly 800 instructors across 33
countries.
Cheryl brings warmth, humor, and deep expertise to every class she teaches. She has seen again
and again the profound impact that life story writing has on individuals—connecting them more
deeply to their own past and to one another. Whether in university classrooms, senior centers, or
writing retreats by the sea, she inspires writers to discover the meaning in their stories and the
courage to share them.