What is Dignity Therapy (DT)?

Dignity Therapy invites participants with a life-limiting condition to reflect upon who they are, what they have done and learnt in life, and what they would like to say to the people who matter the most to them. From a guided interview, a printed legacy document is created for the participant to share with chosen family and friends. It affirms the personhood of participants, while helping them recognise the legacy they leave and offering a way of ‘saying goodbye’ to family and friends through the legacy document.

The impact of Dignity Therapy

For many participants the process has been deeply profound, helping affirm their personhood and create a sense of peace amidst anticipatory grief. Loved ones who received the printed Life Reflections have described the document as ‘worth its weight in gold.’

For a story of the impact of DT for Barwon Health participant Bruno see the beautiful video Dignity Therapy: Life Reflections produced by the Barwon Health Public Affairs and Communications team.

Who is Dignity Therapy for?

The formal guidelines suggest that Dignity Therapy may be suitable for a patient with a prognosis of between 2 weeks (the usual time-frame to conduct the therapy) and 6 months, who is aware of their situation, and who is interested and cognitively able to reflect upon their life. Recent research and experience suggests that it may also be of interest and offer therapeutic benefit to participants with a longer prognosis but who are still ‘existentially-attuned’ to their mortality, such as within aged care.

The workshop

The workshop will cover:

the model of dignity which underpins DT;
the interview process and skills;
transcription using AI;
editing, review and formatting of the interview transcript to create a legacy document;
complications and challenges that may be encountered;
research evidence for DT;
some practicalities of providing DT.

Over the course of the three days participants will gain experience in each facet of Dignity Therapy as they conduct a mini Dignity Therapy interview with a partner, which they will then transcribe, edit and finally present to their partner. Some ‘homework’ of 1-2 hours will likely be required at the end of days 1 and 2.

Who is the training for

The training may be of interest to staff from health care services who support patients who fit the above criteria. In considering training in DT, please be mindful of the significant time required to offer DT, up to 6-10 hours per client, particularly as you develop familiarity with the process.

At the core of Dignity Therapy is the critical skill of empathic listening, accompanied by the ability to sit compassionately with what is often deeply emotional content while gently and skilfully guiding an interview. These foundational skills are essential for all participants in the training.

Transcription and editing an interview are typically the most time-consuming aspects of DT, requiring moderate skill with word processing and formatting, and interaction with an AI interface for transcription.

Generous bursaries may be available to staff from Barwon Health's local partners and health services in the Barwon South West Region.

The presenter: Russell Armstrong

Russell trained in Dignity Therapy with its developer Prof. Harvey Chochinov in 2012. He has personally provided DT to over 100 participants, seeing the profound benefit it offers to them and their loved ones. He co-developed and trains a team in Geelong who have provided DT to a further 250 participants. Russell is the DT Project Manager with Barwon Health, and this will be the tenth DT training program he has run.

Further Information

For queries and information about the bursaries available to staff from Barwon South West Region health services, please contact Russell at russell.armstrong@barwonhealth.org.au or on 0478 318 490.