Reminiscing as a technique in the group psychotherapy of depression: a comparative study

Life Review: Implementation, Theory, Research, and Therapy

A selective literature review of publications on life review generated ideas on implementation, theory, research, and therapy. The review begins by differentiating life review from reminiscence, and summarizing ways to conduct a life review. A dozen theories that have been influenced by the life review technique are presented, with a focus placed on Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development. Erikson's theory has not only been influenced by the life review, it has had a major impact on life review research. Three research topics are discussed: Erikson's ego integrity versus despair in old age, demographical differences in the practice of life reviews, and the impact of conducting life reviews on staff in institutional settings. Most practitioners of life reviews are institutional staff, university students, and family members, many of whom have had limited prior training. The prospect of a certified life review training program is discussed.

Focused Reflection Reminiscence Group for Elders: Implementation and Evaluation

The majority of elders have at least one or more chronic conditions. Functional decline coupled with increased dependence can make elders more vulnerable to negative emotions. Reminiscence can be useful in maintaining a healthy psychological adaptation in the later years of life. This study examined the effectiveness of a specific type of reminiscence in reducing negative emotions in 32 elders residing in retirement communities. This type of reminiscence, called focused reflection, was organized into six weekly, 2-hour group sessions, each with a specific theme. Paired t tests suggested that the focused reflection program reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety but not those reflecting agitation. Overall, the participants gave high ratings to the program. Health care providers should develop focused reflection reminiscence programs to enhance the psychological well-being of elders. Further testing of the focused reflection in larger groups of elders is recommended.

Attachment-focused integrative reminiscence with older African Americans: a randomized controlled intervention study

OBJECTIVES

Prior integrative reminiscence interventions have had a limited focus on attachment themes. The attachment-focused integrative reminiscence (AFIR) intervention differs from these in its central emphasis on attachment themes. The wide range of health benefits resulting from integrative reminiscence may be due in part to reminiscing about, mourning, and integrating unresolved attachment experiences.

METHOD

Participants were randomized into treatment and wait-list control conditions, completed a pre-test, met for eight consecutive weekly two-hour sessions of largely attachment-focused reminiscence, then completed post-tests immediately following the intervention and again six months later.

RESULTS

Results show treatment effects for depression (p = .01 and .05 at eight weeks and six months), perceived stress (p = .01 and .04), and emergency room (ER) visits at six months (p = .04), with the intervention group showing lower depression and stress and fewer ER visits.

CONCLUSION

Integrative reminiscence interventions are cost effective, have rapid impact, and carry a certain appeal to older adults. Augmenting such interventions with a focus on attachment experiences may reduce perceived stress, an important health risk factor. Wider application of AFIRs may further reduce health disparities among US older adults.

Voices of Experience: Talk, Identity and Membership in Reminiscence Groups

This paper presents a discourse analysis of talk in reminiscence groups. Two main issues are addressed. First, we examine how speakers' identities are accomplished through the way they position themselves in social relationships and social practices of ‘remembered pasts’. Particular analytical attention is given to how people claim entitlements to the significance and consequences of their lived experience. Second, issues of membership are examined through the way people index their engagement in the narrative environment accomplished in reminiscence group talk. Finally, we are concerned with how these narratives contribute to a ‘reconstitution’ of understandings in common about cultural and moral orders of remembered pasts and the historical era in which the reported events, experiences and practices took place. Our analysis aims to demonstrate how reminiscence work affords a context for ‘re-membering’ where older people on their own behalf can work entitlements to voice the consequences of their experiences of life.

The motivational impact of temporal focus: thinking about the future and the past

In this chapter, we consider the degree to which individuals are pulled to behave by their conceptions of the future, pushed to act by their recollections of the past, or primarily driven by current exigencies. In examining conceptions of the future, we discuss how individuals bridge the present and the future, the origin of goals, their impact on behavior and cognition, and the motivational underpinnings for inferring other people's goals. We then outline four theoretical approaches to goal prioritization, the motivational impact of proximal vs distal goals, and the distinction between approaching positive vs avoiding negative outcomes. Turning to conceptions of the past, we discuss the motivational push of the past, the use of the past to select one's goals, the impact current goals have on recall and interpretations of the past, and individual differences in using the past. We conclude that temporal focus provides a meaningful framework for social cognitive approaches to motivation.