TY - JOUR
T1 - Creative reminiscence as an early intervention for depression
T2 - Results of a pilot project
AU - Bohlmeijer, E.
AU - Valenkamp, M.
AU - Westerhof, G.
AU - Smit, F.
AU - Cuijpers, P.
PY - 2005/7
Y1 - 2005/7
N2 - Reminiscence may help in resolving conflicts from the past and making up the balance of one's life. Life-review may be further enhanced by the creative expression of memories in stories, poems or drawings. In this way people are encouraged to create and discover metaphors, images and stories that symbolically represent the subjective and inner meaning of their lives. In this article, a new intervention, which combines reminiscence and creative expression aimed at early treatment of depression, is described. A pilot project showed that the intervention Searching for the meaning in life may generate small-sized effects in reducing depression. Additionally, it appears to generate effects of medium size in enhancing mastery. Several possible ways to improve the effectiveness of the intervention are described.
AB - Reminiscence may help in resolving conflicts from the past and making up the balance of one's life. Life-review may be further enhanced by the creative expression of memories in stories, poems or drawings. In this way people are encouraged to create and discover metaphors, images and stories that symbolically represent the subjective and inner meaning of their lives. In this article, a new intervention, which combines reminiscence and creative expression aimed at early treatment of depression, is described. A pilot project showed that the intervention Searching for the meaning in life may generate small-sized effects in reducing depression. Additionally, it appears to generate effects of medium size in enhancing mastery. Several possible ways to improve the effectiveness of the intervention are described.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=21244463223&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/13607860500089567
DO - 10.1080/13607860500089567
M3 - Review article
C2 - 16019285
AN - SCOPUS:21244463223
VL - 9
SP - 302
EP - 304
JO - Aging & mental health
JF - Aging & mental health
SN - 1360-7863
IS - 4
ER -