Reminiscence Therapy - Method

Method

Reminiscence therapy is often used in a nursing home or "geriatric health facility." The structure of reminiscence therapy can vary greatly. In one documented session, a therapist played different songs from the 1920s-1960s and asked the patients which songs resonate or have a special meaning. In another session from the same therapist, the participants shared photographs and had a show-and-tell about why the pictures were important to them.

Psychological research has identified two types of reminiscence therapies that are particularly effective: integrative and instrumental.

• Integrative reminiscence therapy is a process in which individuals attempt to accept negative events in the past, resolve past conflicts, reconcile the discrepancy between ideals and reality, identify continuity between past and present, and find meaning and worth in life. An integrative life review provides individuals with the opportunity to examine events in their lives that may disconfirm negative self-evaluations associated with depression. Many depressed people ignore positive information and focus on memories that support their dysfunctional views, so this therapy helps lead clients to seek fuller, more detailed accounts of their life story and more balanced interpretations of past events. Participants review both good and bad experiences within the context of the entire life, which shows them that negative experiences in one life domain can be mediated with positive events in another. Individuals may disconfirm global, negative evaluations of the self that are associated with depression and begin to develop a more realistic, adaptive view of the self that incorporates both positive and negative attributes.

• Instrumental reminiscence therapy helps the elderly recollect past coping activities and strategies, including memories of plans developed to solve difficult situations, goal-directed activities, and the achievement of one’s own goals or goals one helped others meet. Instrumental reminiscence therapy may exert a positive effect on individuals’ self-esteem and efficacy by recollection of successful experiences in which individuals acted effectively to control their environment. This approach to reminiscence therapy puts roles and commitments that are no longer rewarding or attainable to the periphery and helps these patients invest in other goals that are more in tune with current conditions of living. This can be especially helpful for the elderly who may not be able to do what they were once capable of doing.