A Proposed Model of Therapy: Dementia Grief Therapy

Here we will unpack the particulars of Dementia Grief Therapy (DGT), an exploratory, nonjudgmental, integrative, person-centered, and trauma-informed approach used to support a participant along their journey to the self. It begins from a foundation of human dignity. We will begin our explorations in this chapter from a place of attachment identification as one necessary component to consider when discussing dementia health. We will explore further how grief (sympathetic–parasympathetic axis) interacts with dementia (loss–love axis), by considering the role of attachment dimensions. We will also discuss the roles of aging, trauma, and death and how these are in dynamic feedback loops within lived experiences of dementia symptoms. We will then discuss the necessary and distinct features of DGT. This intervention is informed by trauma, existentialism, Bowlby’s attachment theory, Adlerian psychotherapy principles, and yogic science approaches to the loss–love continuum. There are five distinct clinical features that differentiate DGT from other treatment modalities: collaborators’ orientation, session location, physical activity, nature, and grounding work. One aim of this chapter is for you to comprehend a novel approach, have the necessary knowledge to implement DGT in your practice and to begin to generate a robust data set of dementia grief experiences, as informed by people living with dementia, with all of us across the globe measuring and investigating similar data points. Although DGT is by no means intended to be a manualized method of treatment of BPSD or dementia symptoms, standardized data collection of existential, movement orientated therapy strengthens the empirical database of this proposed therapy model.