Have you ever heard of "Dignity Therapy"?

A friend of mine that works in a wellness center for cancer patients asked me, "Have you ever heard of 'Dignity Therapy'?"

I could guess what that means, but nope.

"That's essentially what you're doing," she replied.

Well then, I think I'll read up on this subject! After all, who doesn't want to know what they're doing? Achieving a better understanding of our chosen life's work is a goal worth pursuing, I'd think. So I Googled.

I found numerous links, so I'll now summarize. 'Dignity Therapy' is a "psychotherapeutic intervention for patients near the end of life". In English, that means Dr. Harvey Chochinov came up with a process for people to share their life stories in order to gain a sense of closure for their lives.

The idea that this would go over well seemed to me a no-brainer, but "Journal of Clinical Oncology" performed a study to see if the process had any merit. Here are the results of the study:

Ninety-one percent of participants reported being satisfied with dignity therapy; 76% reported a heightened sense of dignity; 68% reported an increased sense of purpose; 67% reported a heightened sense of meaning; 47% reported an increased will to live; and 81% reported that it had been or would be of help to their family. Postintervention measures of suffering showed significant improvement (P = .023) and reduced depressive symptoms (P = .05). Finding dignity therapy helpful to their family correlated with life feeling more meaningful (r = 0.480; P = .000) and having a sense of purpose (r = 0.562; P = .000), accompanied by a lessened sense of suffering (r = 0.327; P = .001) and increased will to live (r = 0.387; P = .000).

Craziness! StoryKeeping unintentionally conducts 'Dignity Therapy'. Interesting.

The mission of StoryKeeping is to help people capture the highlights of their loved one's lives. This mission isn't limited to elderly or terminally ill people, however, when "life happens" family members get that extra kick in the rear and are motivated to do something about it. It takes a special person to prioritize something like a StoryKeeping session for a loved one that isn't in danger of losing their lives soon. What a demonstration of love! That said, there's the reality that most of us have an instinctive love for procrastination, and for those families blessed with those extra days, weeks, or even months to say "Goodbye" Dr. Chochinov has created 'Dignity Therapy'.

At this point StoryKeeping does not employ doctors or professional therapists. StoryKeeping does, however, possess a phenomenal love for people. As the Beatles sang, "All you need is love". When you approach someone with love in your heart, and a sincere curiosity for their lives, strangers become friends within minutes. Dale Carnegie has taught millions the secret to "...Winning Friends and Influencing People", and his philosophy is centered around the idea that people love to feel valued.

All this time I was thinking it was the families of those interviewed that were experiencing the benefits of retaining their loved one's life stories. I'm so inspired by the thought that StoryKeeping gives those interviewed a renewed sense of purpose!

"Have you ever heard of 'Dignity Therapy'?" Yes. I'm proud to say it is one of the things I do.