Opportunities for psychotherapy in the management of dementia

Demented patients are not usually thought of as candidates for psychotherapy due to their impaired memory, general intellectual decline, and waning ability to use insight. Families often accede to this view by perceiving their dementing relatives as unable to handle emotion-laden issues. This paper will illustrate with clinical examples that many dementing patients can benefit from psychotherapy. Practical suggestions will be outlined for integrating a psychotherapeutic approach into the management of dementia patients and their caregiving family members. The format of this paper will begin with suggested techniques for the initial interview, followed by separate consideration of psychotherapy issues in dementing patients and in caregiving family members.