Listening to Life Stories
a new approach to stress intervention in health care
"Listening to Life Stories gives a refreshing, enriching and useful approach to unifying the science and art of medicine."
- Herbert Benson, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
"This useful book presents a practical introduction to understanding, planning and implementing narrative reminiscence programs, particularly in the hospital setting. I recommend the book for those interested in a low-cost but highly effective approach to enhancing the quality of life of patients in a variety of settings." - Martita Lopez, Ph.D., Director of Clinical Training, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center
"An important contribution to the literature in both geropsychology and behavioral medicine. This is an essential book for anyone interested in medical care, rehabilitation, or counseling of older adults. I predict it will be seen as a classic in years to come."
- Jon Rose, Ph.D., Geropsychologist, VA Palo Alto Health Care System
"The authors have done an excellent job of presenting the personal, psychological, and spiritual benefits of sharing life stories for both storyteller and listener. The book is filled with helpful, concrete suggestions and illustrations for conducting effective interviews."
- George Fitchett, D.Min, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center
- Herbert Benson, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
"This useful book presents a practical introduction to understanding, planning and implementing narrative reminiscence programs, particularly in the hospital setting. I recommend the book for those interested in a low-cost but highly effective approach to enhancing the quality of life of patients in a variety of settings." - Martita Lopez, Ph.D., Director of Clinical Training, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center
"An important contribution to the literature in both geropsychology and behavioral medicine. This is an essential book for anyone interested in medical care, rehabilitation, or counseling of older adults. I predict it will be seen as a classic in years to come."
- Jon Rose, Ph.D., Geropsychologist, VA Palo Alto Health Care System
"The authors have done an excellent job of presenting the personal, psychological, and spiritual benefits of sharing life stories for both storyteller and listener. The book is filled with helpful, concrete suggestions and illustrations for conducting effective interviews."
- George Fitchett, D.Min, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center
"Admission to the medical system largely means that patients have their stories taken away from them. When patients enter a hospital, their sense of themselves as comfortably competent is changed, like their clothing, into something that, from a psychological perspective, is cold, flimsy, and revealing. They are made to feel depersonalized and vulnerable.
"In contrast, the life narrative approach is a way of bringing the patients’ identity and internal resources into the foreground in a way that helps them to cope more effectively with their illness and promotes their well-being long into the future. "But do we really need our stories in the same way we might need, say, chemotherapy for cancer? In the context of a medical problem and medical care, do patients need their stories? We think they do. "When patients are non-compliant or refuse treatment, when they seek out second opinions or alternative treatments, when they insist on hearing about options for treatment and making their own choices, we are witnessing their need for their own story. This is most obvious to us at times when the patient’s story differs from the biomedical agenda and we can therefore see it more clearly. "But a patient’s story is equally important and powerful when it is relatively invisible in the medical context—when the patient uses it to ally himself or herself with medical caregivers and treatment. The life narrative interviews described in this book are a method for building that alliance with patients." |
Our patients are continually trying to tell us stories about their lives. As health care professionals, our response typically runs the gamut from amusement to irritation, as we try to shift them to our clinical agenda. Yet the movement toward patient-centered and holistic approaches to health care has awakened in many of us an awareness that these personal stories are telling us something significant and that we ought to be paying attention to them. But we are not quite sure what to do when these moments come along. We don’t know what clinical purpose the process of telling and listening to stories can serve.
In writing this book, we believe we are bringing good news to our fellow health care professionals. The news is simple: stories are important, they should be encouraged, and they can be used to help patients cope with stress. The goal of this book is to equip the reader with the knowledge to recognize these therapeutic opportunities and the skills necessary to guide the storytelling process so that patients are strengthened by their own stories. The premise of our life narrative interview is that during times of stress, we need to be reminded of the positive aspects of our life, especially our strengths and resources. Being reminded serves as a short term buffer against the feelings of vulnerability and helplessness that so often accompany medical illness and treatment. We have found that each individual, regardless of the misfortune in his or her life, has positive experiences that can be drawn upon for this purpose. We all have our high points, defining moments, and finest hours. This book emphasizes the skills necessary to keep the focus of the interview on these positive experiences. The other key premise is that the listener has a key role in the storytelling process. In a very real sense, stories are “co-created” by teller and listener. The storyteller (the medical patient) constantly observes the listener (the medical caregiver) for subtle and not-so-subtle signs of interest and lack of interest, acceptance and nonacceptance. A responsive listener will inspire patients to tell meaningful stories and validate the personal attributes revealed in those stories... We love a good story, and our patients have some of the best stories around. Listening to them not only helps our patients but enriches our own lives. |
About the authors
Bruce Rybarczyk, Ph.D. is Professor of Psychology and Director of the Clinical Psychology Program at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he also received his PhD. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psychology and a Fellow in Division 22 of the American Psychological Association, both in Rehabilitation Psychology. He is also Associate Editor of the Journal of Clinical Psychology. Albert Bellg, Ph.D. is a writer, retreat facilitator, and retired health psychologist. He received his doctorate from the University of Rochester in New York, and is a former President of the Wisconsin Psychological Association. He did clinical work and NIH-funded research with heart patients at the Rush Heart Institute in Chicago and at the Appleton Heart Institute, and he now leads retreats and workshops on living a life that's truly yours. |