For caregivers dealing with dementia and other cognitive impairments, Validation Therapy is a kind and gentle approach.
According to Fiona Gibson, whose mother is suffering from Alzheimer’s:
“At the time, I had never heard of Validation Therapy, a ground-breaking approach which says instead of trying to bring a loved one back to reality, instead you should try and enter into the sufferer’s world instead. Developed in the US by academic … Read More of This Story
Naomi Feil is a social worker, who developed the Validation Therapy Method. She was born in Munich, Germany, but was raised in Cleveland, Ohio. There, her mother was in charge of the Social Service Dept. at Montefiore Home for the Aged. She later received her Masters Degree from Columbia University in the field of social work.
The Validation Therapy Method
Here is a quick summary of The Validation Therapy Method:
- Each person is unique, and their situations should be handled separately.
- Every human has value, and that value doesn’t change when someone becomes disoriented.
- There are reasons why people with Alzheimer’s and dementia act the way they do.
- There are many psychological, physical, and social changes that happens during someone’s lifetime that affects behavior after the brain begins to deteriorate.
- We cannot change the behavior of someone with dementia unless they want it to change. We should never try to force that change.
- We have to accept the elderly without judging them.
- Everyone’s lives are divided into stages with scheduled tasks. If we enter a stage of our lives where we cannot complete these tasks, it’s possible to develop psychological problems.
- Seniors try to compensate memory loss by retrieving it through their other senses.
- If you acknowledge and validate painful feelings that are expressed by someone with dementia, those feelings will lessen. If you don’t, they will become worse.
- Empathy helps build trust. It can reduce anxiety and begin to restore dignity in those suffering from dementia.
Sources: WikiPedia, The Telegraph
To get a better understanding and hear it from the founder herself, you should hear watch these short videos. They are very insightful and educational.
