Who Am I? A Life Story Intervention for Persons With Intellectual Disability and Psychiatric Problems.
This article describes an innovative intervention based on narrative and life review therapy that is tailored to people with intellectual disability (ID) and psychiatric problems. The current study provides a first evaluation of the intervention. A symptom checklist (SCL-90) was used in a pre- and post-follow-up design, and a qualitative evaluation of the intervention was carried out with 25 participants. Results showed large changes in psychiatric symptoms, in particular on depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and interpersonal sensitivity. Participants were mainly positive in their general explicit evaluations of the therapy as well as on personal learning points, intervention-specific, group-related, and therapist-related aspects. It is concluded that the intervention is promising for the treatment of people with ID and psychiatric complaints.
Gerben J. Westerhof, University of Twente, The Netherlands; Janny Beernink, VGGNet, Psychiatric Hospital, specialized in Intellectual Disabilities, Warnsveld, the Netherlands; and Anneke Sools, University of Twente, The Netherlands.
Gerben J
GJ
Westerhof
Gerben J. Westerhof, University of Twente, The Netherlands; Janny Beernink, VGGNet, Psychiatric Hospital, specialized in Intellectual Disabilities, Warnsveld, the Netherlands; and Anneke Sools, University of Twente, The Netherlands.
Janny
J
Beernink
Gerben J. Westerhof, University of Twente, The Netherlands; Janny Beernink, VGGNet, Psychiatric Hospital, specialized in Intellectual Disabilities, Warnsveld, the Netherlands; and Anneke Sools, University of Twente, The Netherlands.
Anneke
A
Sools
D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006791:Hostility; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D062525:Narrative Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
intellectual disability; life review therapy; narrative therapy; psychiatric problems