Effectiveness of poetry therapy as an adjunct to self-psychology in clinical work with older adults: A single case study.

Older adults suffer from narcissistic injuries due to the multiple losses faced during later stages of life. A combination of poetry therapy and self-psychology can be an effective approach to address these losses. While self-psychology focuses on the fragmented self, and aids in the development of a more cohesive self, poetry therapy provides opportunities for expression, creativity, and life review that circumvent the limitations often faced by older adults. This paper is a single case study that explores how poetry therapy can be used to generate self-object experiences that provide structure to the older adult's ego. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]