The dark story: Does it have a place in a life review?

ABSTRACT

The life review has had a significant role in the spiritual care of the aged. It has influenced the developing discipline of narrative gerontology. This article proposes that the sense of self is storied, composed of various stories including the lazy story, the trauma story, the messy story, the avoided story, the body story, the problem story, and the focus of this article: the dark story. The spiritual dimension is linked to the God story. Each can enhance a life review. Two pastoral responses are suggested to hearing the dark story: mindful acceptance and self-compassion.

KEYWORDS:

• Dark story
• life review
• mindful acceptance
• self-compassion

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Brenda is not a real person; nor is Herbert, Rhonda, or Matthew. They are constructed from my clinical and pastoral experience. The examples used in this article are for illustration only.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the J. O. and J. N. Wicking Trust [100469].