Listening to Life Stories: A New Approach to Stress Intervention in Health Care - Hardcover

Rybarczyk, Bruce; Bellg, Albert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0826195709 ISBN 13: 9780826195708

Publisher: Springer Publishing Co Inc, 1997

Synopsis

Listening to Life Stories: A New Approach to Stress Management in Health Care is about a simple storytelling process, the Life Narrative Interview (LNI), that research shows can help medical patients have a better experience during a hospital stay.  By focusing on positive life experiences, the LNI helps a person reconnect with their high points, defining moments, and finest hours. Remembering those positive experiences helps buffer the feelings of vulnerability and helplessness that so often accompany life difficulties such as change, loss, or medical illness and treatment. The process for administering the LNI can be taught to hospital volunteers, and a low-cost volunteer program can be created to increase patient satisfaction with their hospital experience.  In this reprint of our original book, we discuss the research supporting the use of Life Narrative Interviews and describe the skills necessary to conduct them with medical patients, people having difficulty, or with family members or friends who would simply enjoy talking about the positive experiences of their life.  

About this title

Review

"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

About the Author

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.

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer Publishing Co Inc
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0826195709
• ISBN 13: 9780826195708
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 145