Developing therapeutic couple work in dementia care – the living together with dementia project

Abstract

This paper describes an approach to working with couples where one partner has a dementia, which is currently under development at the Tavistock Centre for Couple Relationships. This draws upon video-based methods that have been used with parents and children, as well as in psychoanalytic couple psychotherapy, to develop an intervention to assist emotional contact, communication and understanding in couples living with dementia. Our approach includes the person with dementia and their partner, focussing upon the relationship between them and using shared involvement in everyday activities as a basis for enhancing emotional contact. Evidence is reviewed of the need for such an approach, which aims to foster the resilience of the couple's relationship and strengthen their capacity to manage the emotional challenges of the situation. The importance of services holding a relational view in their delivery and the economic and humanitarian consequences of a neglect of this in dementia-care settings are also discussed.

• dementia
• Alzheimer's disease
• relationship quality
• couples psychotherapy

Notes

^1. The Tavistock Centre for Couple Relationships was founded in 1948 and is part of the Tavistock Institute of Medical Psychology. It is a centre of advanced practice and study, offering clinical services and practitioner trainings, which are registered with the British Psychoanalytic Council, the College of Sexual and Relationship Therapists and the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, as well as the University of East London. It also undertakes research and policy activities which encourage the development of effective and innovative therapeutic services for couples and parents.

Additional information

Funding

Funding

The work was supported by a grant from Camden Council's Innovation and Development Fund.