Life Review Therapy for Older Adults With Moderate Depressive Symptomatology
Joyce is a woman of 63 years. Like nigh one in five older adults, she struggles with feelings of depression. In her case, important life events seem to exist related to these depressive feelings, every bit she recently retired and besides lost her husband only two years ago. In her own words, she feels that life is meaningless: "I believe I have to spend my fourth dimension well. It is completely new to me that every activity every time does not feel existent to me." Given her feelings of low and her difficulty to find meaning in a new phase in life, she is a good candidate for life review therapy.
In the 1960s already, Robert Butler argued that a return to the past is not a sign of age-related refuse, but rather an adaptive means to come to terms with life's finitude. Over the years, it has become articulate that reminiscence and life review are non only important for this purpose in the latest phase of life. Rather, they contribute to mental health and well-being during the adult lifespan. In the field of gerontology, these insights have stimulated the evolution of a variety of interventions with different aims and target groups over the by decades. Interventions that aim to reduce depressive feelings in depressed older adults can be called life review therapy.
Joyce follows a protocol "The Stories Nosotros Alive By" that in her case was delivered online through a trained master student in psychology under supervision of a licensed health intendance psychologist. Starting time, she conducts some writing assignments relating to different phases of her life from childhood to the current time. She discovers a major theme that has been important in these phases of life, the theme of "existence forgotten". She richly described babyhood memories, where particularly her mother did not pay attending to her. But she too feels forgotten in her current life phase: "This was near evident when my married man died two years ago. The family forgets to enquire how I am doing, believing: 'Well, she will manage.'"
Whereas psychoanalysts would see conflicts in the by as a major force in the evolution of mental illness, and behaviorists see learning histories every bit essential, life review therapy assumes that the past is subject field to of import interpretative processes. People with depressive symptoms tend to 'forget' specific positive memories, they have difficulty in construing a positive meaning out of negative memories and they tell a coherent story across life phases that supports the depressive feelings. Life review therapy therefore aims to reconstrue the meaning of the past in light of 1's current and future life.
Amid others, Joyce is asked to think of exceptions that contradicted the theme of 'being forgotten'. She comes up with several specific positive memories where her begetter learned her how to do all kind of DIY activities that still are important to her present. She concludes: "I always felt very safety when nosotros were together." Furthermore, she is asked for new interpretations, for instance, what she has learned throughout her life, even when being forgotten: "I accept become aware of how of import it is to stand for yourself in a expert way, as 'being forgotten' has taken a prominent place in my life as well often." During the therapy, she is besides asked to think of a new theme for her life story: "When I at present await back on my life, I feel contained and I strive to be transparent, authentic and respectful in friendships and relations."
Several studies have been conducted on the furnishings of life review therapy on depressive symptoms in older adults. Equally the quality of these studies has improved over time, the time was ripe to bring the best bear witness together in a meta-analysis. In the current study we systematically searched the literature and constitute xi randomized clinical trials on life review therapy for depressive symptoms. We computed the effects that were found in these eleven studies. Nine studies showed meaning effects on depressive symptoms in comparison to different kinds of control groups. On average, the effects were big. Every bit the effects of two studies could be seen as outliers, we also looked at the results without these studies. At present, the effects were moderate. Even though the studies had unlike blueprint and the forms of therapy varies for example from individual and grouping face up-to-confront sessions to online therapy, the results were quite consistent across studies. Hence, information technology can be concluded that there is a solid testify base of operations that life review therapy works for depressive symptoms in older adults.
This was also the case for Joyce. Subsequently the intervention, she says: "Now information technology is beginning to become clear to me that over time negative experiences largely make style for articulate insights and growth. It is equally if I am becoming more and more in balance with myself." This helped her to deal with the feelings she reported before the intervention: "I take a lasting feeling that my life matters. I no longer experience that activities aren't existent to me, but I now do things purposeful again".
Reference Article
Westerhof, G. J., & Slatman, Due south. (2019). In search of the best prove for life review therapy to reduce depressive symptoms in older adults: A meta‐assay of randomized controlled trials. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practise, e12301.
Give-and-take Questions
- Are nosotros a victim of our past, or can we gain insights and meanings from our by that can help us to develop further, besides in later life?
- Exercise depressive symptoms vest to the aging process, or can they be effectively treated in psychotherapy?
- What would exist good indicators to offering life review therapy when treating depressive symptoms?
Author Bio
Gerben J. Westerhof, Ph.D. is Chair of the Department Psychology, Wellness, and Technology and Managing director of the Story Lab at the University of Twente, the netherlands. He studies how life stories are related to mental wellness, well-existence and meaning in life beyond the lifespan and codeveloped several narrative interventions, for instance for life review therapy for older persons with depressive symptoms, and autobiographical writing for people with personality disorder. He is currently President of the Advisory Board of the International Centre for Life Story Innovation and Practice (ICLIP) at the University of Connecticut.
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Source: https://div12.org/meta-analysis-of-life-review-therapy-rcts-for-treating-depressive-symptoms-in-older-adults/