1
Reflective Report: The Cherished Memories Protocol
Mandy Roosendaal, 2663488
Emotion, Cognition, and Behaviour from a Clinical Perspective
Ntragko Savits, Group 23
Word count: 3161
13-06-2021
, 2
General Introduction
This assignment is intended for psychology students following the preminor Emotion,
Cognition, and Behaviour from a Clinical Perspective. Students practice with a part of the
Cherished Memories (CM) protocol using its specific interviewing techniques and write a
reflective report about it. This way, students get to practice with a low-intensity treatment and
learn about the mutual influence of emotions, cognitions, and behaviours.
Bohlmeijer et al. (2010) describe CM as a protocol intended for elderly people (55 years
or older) with depression. They state that the memories of people with depression are negative
and general. This protocol aims to increase access to positive and specific memories. These
memories serve as exceptions to a general negative life-story and alleviate depressive
symptoms by strengthening a positive identity and increasing self-esteem. However, the
interviewee with whom this protocol is practised cannot be diagnosed with any psychological
disorders. Latorre et al. (2015) found that CM also increased life satisfaction, decreased
depressive symptoms, and increased specific memories in elderly people without depression.
Although the assignment consists of three interviews, the original protocol described by
Bohlmeijer et al. (2010) consists of five therapeutic interviews. Each takes around 45 minutes.
The first interview is an introduction in which the protocol is explained, and a general overview
of the interviewee’s life is obtained. The second interview is about childhood (0-12 years), the
third is about youth (12-18 years), the fourth is about adulthood (18+ years), and the final
interview is about life in general. The interviews start with three pre-selected starting questions.
Additional questions proposed by Bohlmeijer et al. (2010) and/or questions based on previous
interviews follow. Three interviewing techniques should be used: (1) asking specific follow-up
questions, (2) asking follow-up questions on positive aspects, and (3) offering compliments and
support.
Preparation
I asked my fellow students if I could interview one of their family members. The
participant I found, referred to as Mrs. Smith in this report, is the mother of a fellow student. I
received her phone number and sent her a message through WhatsApp to make an
appointment for the introductory interview. We agreed on the following Friday at 16.00 (09-04-
2021). This went very smoothly.
To prepare, I wrote an introductory text explaining the protocol (see Appendix A). I did
not have any difficulties writing the introductory text and it helped me to explain the protocol
clearly to my interviewee. I also asked Mrs. Smith some general questions to get an overview of
her life. The second interview covered either childhood or youth. While obtaining an overview of
, 3
her life, I noticed that Mrs. Smith felt more positive about her childhood than about her youth.
When I asked if this was correct, she agreed. Therefore, I decided to talk about her childhood in
the second interview. I asked Mrs. Smith to think about her childhood in the days leading up to
the next interview and to check if she had any pictures and/or personal belongings that could
help her remember certain events from her childhood. We agreed to make an appointment for
the second interview on Friday at 16.00 the next week (16-04-2021). This all went very
smoothly.
For the second and third interviews, I prepared interview plans (see Appendix B) using
the three starting questions proposed by Bohlmeijer et al. (2010), some of the additional
questions they proposed, and questions based on the information I obtained during the
introductory interview. In a previous course about interviewing skills, I had difficulties using
summaries to structure my interviews and created a learning goal based on this. Therefore, I
also included appropriate moments for summaries in my interview plans. I now achieved this
learning goal. I did not have any difficulties writing the interview plans. At the end of the second
interview, we made a new appointment on Friday at 16.00 the next week again (23-04-2021). I
also asked Mrs. Smith to think about memories from her adult life in the days leading up to the
interview and reminded her that she could bring pictures and/or personal belongings again.
I noticed the memories remained very general in the second interview. I decided to
emphasise the importance of very specific memories again at the start of the third interview. I
included this in my interview plan. However, the day before the interview, Mrs. Smith cancelled
our appointment, and we made a new one for the week after on Friday at 16.00 (30-04-2021).
On this Friday morning, Mrs. Smith had to cancel again, and we agreed on Sunday at 16.00
(02-05-2021). Unfortunately, Mrs. Smith had forgotten about our appointment on Sunday. On
Sunday evening, she messaged me through WhatsApp, and we made a new appointment for
the next day at 13.00 (03-05-2021). This was all slightly stressful for me, but the final interview
on Monday went well. Emphasizing specific memories did increase the number of specific
memories, but many remained quite general.
Summary
Mrs. Smith experienced her childhood very positively. She did not remember much from
school. However, she did remember fun times after school with her friends, some of whom she
is still friends with to this day. One thing she remembers fondly are boat trips to the
Vinkeveense Plassen with her friend and her friend’s parents. They slept in a tent on one of
the uninhabited islands while the parents stayed relatively far away on the boat, which they
thought was very exciting. She also enjoyed mischievous activities with her friends, such as
Reflective Report: The Cherished Memories Protocol
Mandy Roosendaal, 2663488
Emotion, Cognition, and Behaviour from a Clinical Perspective
Ntragko Savits, Group 23
Word count: 3161
13-06-2021
, 2
General Introduction
This assignment is intended for psychology students following the preminor Emotion,
Cognition, and Behaviour from a Clinical Perspective. Students practice with a part of the
Cherished Memories (CM) protocol using its specific interviewing techniques and write a
reflective report about it. This way, students get to practice with a low-intensity treatment and
learn about the mutual influence of emotions, cognitions, and behaviours.
Bohlmeijer et al. (2010) describe CM as a protocol intended for elderly people (55 years
or older) with depression. They state that the memories of people with depression are negative
and general. This protocol aims to increase access to positive and specific memories. These
memories serve as exceptions to a general negative life-story and alleviate depressive
symptoms by strengthening a positive identity and increasing self-esteem. However, the
interviewee with whom this protocol is practised cannot be diagnosed with any psychological
disorders. Latorre et al. (2015) found that CM also increased life satisfaction, decreased
depressive symptoms, and increased specific memories in elderly people without depression.
Although the assignment consists of three interviews, the original protocol described by
Bohlmeijer et al. (2010) consists of five therapeutic interviews. Each takes around 45 minutes.
The first interview is an introduction in which the protocol is explained, and a general overview
of the interviewee’s life is obtained. The second interview is about childhood (0-12 years), the
third is about youth (12-18 years), the fourth is about adulthood (18+ years), and the final
interview is about life in general. The interviews start with three pre-selected starting questions.
Additional questions proposed by Bohlmeijer et al. (2010) and/or questions based on previous
interviews follow. Three interviewing techniques should be used: (1) asking specific follow-up
questions, (2) asking follow-up questions on positive aspects, and (3) offering compliments and
support.
Preparation
I asked my fellow students if I could interview one of their family members. The
participant I found, referred to as Mrs. Smith in this report, is the mother of a fellow student. I
received her phone number and sent her a message through WhatsApp to make an
appointment for the introductory interview. We agreed on the following Friday at 16.00 (09-04-
2021). This went very smoothly.
To prepare, I wrote an introductory text explaining the protocol (see Appendix A). I did
not have any difficulties writing the introductory text and it helped me to explain the protocol
clearly to my interviewee. I also asked Mrs. Smith some general questions to get an overview of
her life. The second interview covered either childhood or youth. While obtaining an overview of
, 3
her life, I noticed that Mrs. Smith felt more positive about her childhood than about her youth.
When I asked if this was correct, she agreed. Therefore, I decided to talk about her childhood in
the second interview. I asked Mrs. Smith to think about her childhood in the days leading up to
the next interview and to check if she had any pictures and/or personal belongings that could
help her remember certain events from her childhood. We agreed to make an appointment for
the second interview on Friday at 16.00 the next week (16-04-2021). This all went very
smoothly.
For the second and third interviews, I prepared interview plans (see Appendix B) using
the three starting questions proposed by Bohlmeijer et al. (2010), some of the additional
questions they proposed, and questions based on the information I obtained during the
introductory interview. In a previous course about interviewing skills, I had difficulties using
summaries to structure my interviews and created a learning goal based on this. Therefore, I
also included appropriate moments for summaries in my interview plans. I now achieved this
learning goal. I did not have any difficulties writing the interview plans. At the end of the second
interview, we made a new appointment on Friday at 16.00 the next week again (23-04-2021). I
also asked Mrs. Smith to think about memories from her adult life in the days leading up to the
interview and reminded her that she could bring pictures and/or personal belongings again.
I noticed the memories remained very general in the second interview. I decided to
emphasise the importance of very specific memories again at the start of the third interview. I
included this in my interview plan. However, the day before the interview, Mrs. Smith cancelled
our appointment, and we made a new one for the week after on Friday at 16.00 (30-04-2021).
On this Friday morning, Mrs. Smith had to cancel again, and we agreed on Sunday at 16.00
(02-05-2021). Unfortunately, Mrs. Smith had forgotten about our appointment on Sunday. On
Sunday evening, she messaged me through WhatsApp, and we made a new appointment for
the next day at 13.00 (03-05-2021). This was all slightly stressful for me, but the final interview
on Monday went well. Emphasizing specific memories did increase the number of specific
memories, but many remained quite general.
Summary
Mrs. Smith experienced her childhood very positively. She did not remember much from
school. However, she did remember fun times after school with her friends, some of whom she
is still friends with to this day. One thing she remembers fondly are boat trips to the
Vinkeveense Plassen with her friend and her friend’s parents. They slept in a tent on one of
the uninhabited islands while the parents stayed relatively far away on the boat, which they
thought was very exciting. She also enjoyed mischievous activities with her friends, such as
