Narrative Therapy with Older Clients

Abstract

Self narratives of older adults often include themes of loss and devaluation. These negative perceptions arise from personal experiences, such as widowhood or health impairments, and also the socially constructed images of older adults as dependent and unproductive. Narrative therapy provides a meaning-making strategy that can be used to assist older clients in altering their life stories. Within narrative therapy, older adults collaborate with the therapist to deconstruct their current narrative and construct an alternate one that has greater meaning for the client. This approach is applied with the case situation of an 80 year-old woman who was experiencing depression and health declines.