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CONTENTS
About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Foreword
Barbara K. Haight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxi
PART I REMINISCENCE THEORY AND VALUES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1
Reminiscence, Age, and Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2
Why Encourage Reminiscence? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3
Staff Development Through Reminiscence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
PART II REMINISCENCE PRACTICE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
4
Planning and Preparation for Reminiscence Work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
5
Engaging in Reminiscence Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
6
Translating Reminiscences into Tangible Representations . . . . . . . . 153
7
Promoting Social Inclusion Through Reminiscence . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
PART III REMINISCENCE PRACTICE IN DEMENTIA CARE . . . . . 199
8
Memory, Dementia, and Creativity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
9
Reminiscence at Home and in Dementia Day Centers . . . . . . . . . . . 225
10
Reminiscence in Dementia Residential Facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
APPENDIXES
Appendix A Personal History Form. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
Appendix B Sessional Group Attendance Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
Appendix C Group Activity Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
Appendix D Clearance Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Appendix E Twentieth-Century U.S. Historical Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Appendix F Quick Reference Age Grid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
Appendix G Life Review and Experiencing Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

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FOREWORD
This is a great book, and I am honored to write this foreword at a time
when telling ones story is the linchpin not only for conducting reminiscing and life review sessions but for using many varied therapies and oral
history techniques. Accounts of the use of reminiscence have been ongoing
since the times of Aristotle and Socrates, but today the method has come
into its own as an important and self-preserving process. Once the domain
of older people, reminiscing and life review are now seen as important developmental tools used throughout a lifetime, starting in childhood when
one is old enough to have memories. We are at the threshold of an interesting renaissance in the decade of the brain, and the use of memory plays
an important part in that renaissance. Reminiscence and life review may
surface as the most important pathways to a peaceful existence with our
past and thus a hopeful future.
Since the 1990s, there have been many literary contributions to the
field of reminiscence but never one that explains the processes so clearly
and definitively as this book does. This book is truly the work of an expert
practitioner who can share her knowledge in helpful format for all to use
the modalities in practice. A practitioner, who is also a gifted writer, Faith
Gibson has added to our expertise in this field of storytelling. Starting
with her beliefs in the processes after decades of personal use for her
clients, Gibson discusses the interactive process of memory, open to constant editing and based on life experiences, as a pathway to deriving comfort and self-knowledge as one grows older. She defines reminiscence, recall, review, and partial reconstruction as the building blocks of memory
work and simplifies the work of the brain to be more understandable to
readers of every level.
In Chapter 3 she explores reminiscence as a tool for staff development,
something not done in other books, and uses her extensive teaching experience to lay out a format for the reader. Particularly helpful are the
figures that summarize and explain the content. These figures can help administrators incorporate reminiscing modalities into their institutions
something needed to humanize what is often a sterile environment.
Parts II and III offer practical guidance to those who wish to follow
in Gibsons footsteps. Gibson shines in her discussion of reminiscing with
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people who have dementia. She generously shares her lifetime experiences
and knowledge base with clarity and conciseness. Gibson continues to take
giant steps in her discussion of the promotion of social inclusion through
reminiscence, using the Troubles in Belfast as one of several examples.
These examples can easily be translated to the southern United States
where many have undergone similar injustices due to segregation, or they
can be translated to Europe to the Jews who suffered during the Holocaust.
Perhaps these memories can also be used to teach the rest of us that we are
not unique but a part of the injustice that pervades the world and thereby
endowed with a responsibility to challenge it.
Thank you is the only way to end this foreword. Thank you, Faith
Gibson, for sharing a lifetime of insightful thinking that will serve the
younger generations as they carry the old knowledge forward and meld
it with new discoveries. This book is truly a gift to the reminiscers of the
future.
Barbara K. Haight, Dr.P.H., R.N., FAAN
Professor Emeritus
College of Nursing
Medical University of South Carolina

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INTRODUCTION
The Past in the Present is based on the conviction that although each of us
is unique, our singular identity and personhood can only be fully experienced in loving relationship and communication with other people.
Whatever the present holds for each of us we can only live comfortably
with itand dare to be hopeful about the futureif we have come to understand and accept our personal past. If we are to reach such understanding we need to dare to tell our stories, first to ourselves and then to others. It is through this process of storytelling and being assured that our
stories have been heard that we come to understand who we are and what
our lives might mean.
When thinking about the modern reminiscence and life review
movement, several characteristics are apparent. The theory and practice of
reminiscence and life review straddle many boundaries. Although multidimensional, multiprofessional, multidisciplinary, and multicultural, reminiscence is also intergenerational and international. It embraces a range
of approaches and activities with individuals, couples, small groups, and
communities both of interest and of place. It embraces intellectual, emotional, physical, creative, and spiritual aspects of life. Paradoxically reminiscence is both intrapersonal and interpersonal; it encourages introspection and private reflection yet promotes sociability and engagement with
others. Much reminiscing takes place in the company of others and may be
purposely organized; it also occurs in private, with or without special
preparation. Although not regarded as entertainment, reminiscence is frequently lighthearted and entertaining; it can also be sad and distressing.
Although not a therapy, it is usually therapeutic.
Although reminiscence is not restricted to old age, the growing number of people living to advanced old age means that interest in reminiscence and life review is increasing. More and more people are using reminiscence to assist them to reflect upon their past lives, now largely lost
except to memory or preserved in more tangible reminders of the times
through which they have lived. A growing interest in spirituality or a
search for meaning in late life parallels this considerable interest in reminiscence. Psychology, philosophy, history, religion, and the creative arts intersect in the experience of many older people who pursue their quest for
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meaning making down many and varied paths, including reminiscence and
life review.
Reminiscence can be thought of as re-membering again what has
been forgotten without needing to relearn it (Erdelyi, 1996). The past that
was can never be recaptured except through the processes of remembering,
recall, review and partial reconstruction in the imagination. Each subsequent re-visiting or recalling of the past inevitably involves reconstructing
it, and in this process we reconstruct ourselves. All re-membering seems
to involve a process of over-writing rather than obliterating the previously
remembered version. In our imaginations we construct our stories, and by
telling our stories to other people we consolidate our sense of personal
identity. The recall and recording in one form or another of past memories
and the stories that they nourish has become for many people an important part of making sense of their lifes journey. The stories told about that
journey are not assets to be stripped or plundered; they are a gift, and those
to whom they are entrusted should guard them well.
Butler, whose 1963 article is widely regarded as the inspirational
foundation of the contemporary reminiscence movement, more recently
suggested,
While it is useful to develop objective, quantitative, psychological, and psychosocial measures of reminiscence and life review, perhaps their strength
lies ultimately in the qualitative realmreflecting a kind of meditation on
an individuals vanished world, that is, ones own life and the anticipated
loss of self as one grows older and experiences the rising expectation of
death. The life review may help guide individuals during the final stage and
help organize a sense of ones own life purpose. (Butler, 1999, p. 36)

Reminiscence and life review serve many different functions for diverse people and different functions for the same person at different times.
Reminiscence does not have a discrete body of theory but draws from
many disciplines and is nurtured by many sources. Reflecting this diversity, many professions use it in many varied contexts. In some ways reminiscence is regarded as a normal, everyday, straightforward part of life,
something that we all know about and most of us engage in from time to
time. Yet its complexity and diversity has attracted the interest and attention of researchers and practitioners from many different academic and
professional backgrounds. Reminiscence work is still evolving and developing. As it simultaneously draws ideas from autobiographical memory,

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oral history, and the creative arts, it deepens its theoretical and therapeutic base while extending and broadening its myriad applications; herein
lies its attractiveness, dynamic strength, rewards, and challenges.
Memory plays a central part in forming our subjective understanding
of our individual selves throughout our lives and our collective identities
as citizens of nation states and increasingly of the world at large, for we are
all captives of our personal and collective memories. Because memory is a
dynamic, not a static, source of ideas and imagination whose meanings are
open to change, interpretation, and to some extent reconstruction, each
time we recall them, we all retain an ability to re-make our lives and contribute toward the re-making of our fractured communities.
In reminiscence work we are seeking to explore where we started and
where we have arrived, and through the partial reconstruction of our memories, to paraphrase T.S. Eliot, we come to know the place as if for the first
time or in a different way. Understanding these processes of how memories are acquired, recovered, and reconstructed challenges the most learned
brain scientists. Yet these same processes bring immense pleasure to people of all ages who meanwhile understand almost nothing of the neuroscience, biochemistry, and physiology of the complex neural processes
involved. Nonetheless we all have available to us almost limitless possibilities for enlarging our understanding of the past and using this understanding for enriching our lives in the present.
Increasingly reminiscence is being used in conjunction with other
therapies and artistic activities or as a bridge or pathway into them. Reminiscence is particularly valuable if used in this way because reminiscence
is usually an acceptable and easy way to establish initial contact and to convey genuine interest in and empathy for others. Consequently reminiscence
deepens relationships and demonstrates respect for and appreciation of
other people and the life each has lived. It can be used on its own or in association with other approaches with individuals, couples, or small groups.
It fits well with multidisciplinary and multiprofessional approaches based
on mutual respect and under circumstances in which knowledge, skills,
and experience complement each other and are grounded in a common
value base.
Although the scope of this book goes beyond the realm of older people, its major emphasis is on older people. The values, knowledge, and
skills that it seeks to explain are founded on the conviction that whatever
we do, we need to do something in terms of making an effort to commu-

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nicate with and relate to other people, regardless of age. The worst mistake we can make as members of families and communitiesand whether
we are artists, teachers, health and welfare professionals, museum and library staff, or community workersis to assume that we and those who
we encounter day-by-day are self-sufficient and independent. Because each
one of us is bound together with others in inter-dependent relationships,
we all have a responsibility to attempt to reach out to others, for none of
us is self-sufficient. As the capacity and opportunity for people to make
this effort diminishes for whatever personal or contextual reason, our responsibility to reach out becomes all the greater.
Controversy often erupts over who should be doing group work with older
people. Professionals tend to guard their territory zealously and to feel that
nonprofessionals doing group work will unleash strong feelings and emotions with which they cannot deal. This attitude sells older individuals
short: They are a tough lot. The danger is not in the practice of group work
with older adults: the real danger is in not conducting groups and thereby
fostering the still-prevalent attitude of therapeutic nihilism. It is better
to take a risk than to sit by and watch apathy, fear, sensory deprivation,
loneliness, and helplessness continue in older adults. (Burnside, 1984, p. iv)

Burnsides position, although especially applicable to older people, is

equally relevant to many other people contending with diminished life
chances, poverty, disabilities, and problems in living. Her focus on group
work also embraces individuals and her call to responsible, concerned action, even in the face of incomplete knowledge and rudimentary skills, is as
relevant to this century as to the last. Despite much progress, too little has
changed in the human service professions; much still remains to be done.
A life span developmental perspective informs this book, and I hope
that professional people from many different backgrounds will find it relevant. Regardless of particular professional allegiances, we all need to take
responsibility for making it possible for any person who wants to tell his
or her life story to have access to a person who is willing, able, and prepared to listen. It has been said that we lose our souls when someone else
takes it upon him- or herself to tell our story. This reaction is not inevitable, and there will be some people who, because of disabilities or special circumstances, may need assistance in telling their story and being
heard. It is important that skilled help is available to those who need it so
that they can tell their own story, in their own way, and in doing so feel
enriched rather than diminished.

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Much reminiscence and life review work has traditionally taken place
in health and welfare facilities, but increasingly it is also occurring in
many different community settings. Whatever the context and whatever
sponsoring agency is involved, if high standards are to be achieved senior
staff must endorse and support the process. It is essential that all reminiscence facilitatorswhether they are staff members, volunteers, or independent practitionersbe interested in reminiscence, equipped to undertake it, and supported in their efforts. Good practice requires that all
reminiscence sessions whether with individuals, couples, or small groups
are well planned, well resourced, and regularly evaluated.
There are both technical and artistic aspects to reminiscence work. If
technique without feeling is ineffectual, feeling without technique is inefficient. If technical competence without compassion is sterile, compassion
without competence is an exercise in futility (Kadushin, 1978, p. 4). For
reminiscence work is still both art and science, a confluence of the imaginative and the therapeutic, requiring both feeling responses and technical
skill. One without the other, or concentration on one at the expense of the
other, will fail to achieve the varied possibilities for people of all ages inherent in using recall of the past to enrich the present and give courage for
the future. The justification for using art, if justification is needed in this
increasingly technology-ridden world, is well summed up by an unknown
author:
Art gives hopea hope that transcends the immediate world of experience.
Creative activity provides a counterbalance to all that is restrictive, pedestrian, ordinary, and limiting in our lives as we age, becoming almost
imperceptibly but inevitably the captives of diminishing physical health, reduced energy, and shrinking social circles. Feeding the world of the imagination is as essential as nourishing the physical body. And if we attend to
one and not the other, we hasten dreariness and death.

The term reminiscence therapy is commonly but inaccurately used

regardless of who is undertaking it, for what purpose, and within what service context. Bluck and Levine (1998) preferred the term technique. I prefer the term reminiscence work. Only when professionals who hold a recognized therapy qualification use particular types of reminiscence for specific
purposes in clinical settings might the term reminiscence therapy sometimes be appropriate. Therapy suggests illness or malfunction with intervention by an expert who is employed to assess, diagnose, and treat in
order to remedy a disease, defect, or malfunction. People alone can be re-

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garded as experts in terms of recalling and recounting their own personal

life experience, and they need to be affirmed as such. They are not necessarily ill or suffering from an identified condition (although some may be)
that can be cured by prescribed reminiscence therapy.
The term therapy also conveys a misleading precision, a spurious exactness, and sits uncomfortably with the free flowing creativity and diversity so characteristic of most reminiscence exchanges. The term work on
the other hand suggests serious mutual engagement in a shared enterprise.
Therapy suggests an imbalance of power, status, knowledge, and authority. It elevates the professional healer or superior leader and conflicts with
the egalitarian mutuality of most reminiscence work. Many reminiscence
workers or facilitators may not hold recognized health qualifications and
there is no widely recognized specific qualification in reminiscence and life
review work, as far as I am aware. Although training and preparation are
necessary and supervision highly desirable, to use the terms therapy and
therapist in this connection is misleading and may create false expectations.
The term work, rather than therapy, reflects a strengths perspective
and a person-centered approach. It stresses the importance of interpersonal
relationships, mutual interdependency, and active participation. It rejects
negative stereotyping and emphasizes empowerment, citizenship, and development throughout the entire life course. It recognizes each person as
the authority on his or her own life. Much reminiscence practice occurs in
contexts unrelated to health and social welfare. It is well established in
schools, colleges, museums, libraries, arts organizations, community clubs,
and groups of many kinds. Such organizations would describe their mission more in educational, artistic, citizenship, recreational, or community
service terms. The idea of these organizations delivering therapy would be
inappropriate, misleading, and probably unacceptable. They are likely to
have other objectives and legitimately seek other outcomes from reminiscence work.
Discussion about the meaning of memory, remembering, imagination,
and creativity is found in the literature of many disciplines, including neuroscience, biology, physiology, psychology, artificial intelligence, philosophy, history, literature, art, and many clinical or therapeutic human service
professions. This book does not attempt to encompass this vast range of
learning and practice expertise yet in many different direct and indirect
ways it draws from all of these rich streams. I hope that it will inform the

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practice of professionals and also encourage volunteers and family caregivers

to use reminiscence and to reminisce themselves. I have tried to provide sufficient relevant background theory to interest, inform, and justify the practical applied suggestions that are aimed at contributing to the well being
and life satisfaction of people of diverse ages and varied life circumstances.
To do this is a tall order, and where my understanding of the theoretical ideas is incomplete or fails adequately to represent their complexity, or
where the practice interventions appear to be confused, simplistic, or irrelevant, I alone must bear responsibility. It would be easy to ignore the
literature of contributing disciplines and to write a simple how-to-do-it
kind of reminiscence cookbook. Alternately, it would be easy to become so
overwhelmed by the extent and erudition of writing about memory that
stretches back over many centuries to decide the task is impossible and
should be abandoned. It seems to me, having spent many years researching, practicing, teaching, and thinking about memory and reminiscence
work, that either response is inadequate. So despite my acute awareness of
all the pitfalls, I hope that readers will be intrigued about memory and
will explore for themselves some of the implications of remembering in
order to nourish their own and other peoples lives. For although I have
made strenuous efforts not to over-state the case for reminiscing, I hope
that its exciting possibilities and numerous benefits are made clear so that
we come to appreciate how reminiscence helps us to enjoy life but even
more profoundly to endure it with hope.
The book has three parts. Part I considers memory, aging, and values,
the why and what of reminiscence and the ways in which staff who use
reminiscence may benefit. Part II gives guidance about planned reminiscence and life review with individuals, couples, and small groups, shows
how to capture personal and collective memories in tangible ways, and
shows how it might assist marginalized communities. These chapters seek
to answer the how-to-do-it questions. Part III considers aspects of memory, dementia, and creativity and concentrates specifically on adapting
reminiscence practice for people who have dementia and involving families, volunteers, adult day services, and residential staff in using it to encourage communication and preserve relationships.

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