About the Online Life Story Practice and Research Graduate Certificate
Life Story is a 12-credit online graduate certificate developed by Juliette Shellman, Associate Professor & Director of the International Center for Life Story Innovations and Practice in the University of Connecticut School of Nursing, as well as, by experts in the field. The certificate consists of two 3-credit courses and three 2-credit. This program picks up where the popular Reminiscence and Life Story Work Online Certificate Program (non-credit) offered by the University of Wisconsin-Superior Center for Continuing Education (UWS-CCE) left off. Due to departmental changes at UWS-CCE the program was discontinued with the last cohort graduating in November 2019. With the approval of the ICLIP Advisory Board, we explored the opportunity to establish and develop a similar program at UCONN.
Reminiscence, one popular life story approach, is a naturally occurring process defined as the recollection of past experiences. This process can be conducted silently or shared in the company of others. Individuals across the lifespan reminisce for the following reasons:
- Self-Identify
- Bitterness Revival
- Conversation
- Teach/Inform
- Intimacy Maintenance
- Death Preparation
- Boredom Reduction
- Problem-Solving
Reminiscence is used in a variety of disciplines both as a field of study and as an intervention in clinical practice.