Akademik Məlumat İdarəetmə Sistemi
Türk Uygulamalı Sosyal Hizmet Dergisi, vol.3, no.1, pp.45-58, 2020 (Peer-Reviewed Journal)
The population of the elderly is increasing both in Turkey and the whole world
day by day. The present situation highly necessitates solving the problems of the elderly.
According to narrative therapy, elderly individuals encountering many problems in terms
of bio-psycho-social aspects transfer all these problems into their lives in the form of
narratives. The personal narratives of elderly people often include the themes of “loss”
and “deficiency”. These negative perceptions originate from the physical-mental health
problems that increase with the old age and the narratives given to the elderly by the
socio-cultural context. Narrative therapy provides an opportunity for elderly individuals to
create an alternative narration to help them change their life stories. In this way, elderly
individuals become aware of their existing narratives and collaborate with the therapist
to build alternative narrations that will improve their well-being rather than being stuck in
their existing stories.
In the current study, the contributions and applications of narrative therapy, which
positively contributes to the individual’s bio-psycho-social well-being, are discussed.
The first section of the study includes the introduction, which deals with the scientific
and conceptual relationship between narrative therapy and the elderly. Following the
introduction, the second section of the study focuses on the discussions about the
fundamental philosophy and targets of narrative therapy. The next section is about the
detailed presentation of narrative therapy practice, which has conducted with the elderly.