Using Validation Therapy with your Dementia Clients

Hello Everyone:

My HCA students and I have been doing a lot of research lately on how to connect and communicate with the dementia patients that we work with. One of the most break-through therapies is known as Validation Therapy.
Validation Therapy "was developed by Naomi Feil for older people with cognitive impairments and dementia. The basic principle of the therapy is the concept of validation or the reciprocated communication of respect which communicates that the other's opinions are acknowledged, respected, heard, and (regardless whether or not the listener actually agrees with the content), they are being treated with genuine respect as a legitimate expression of their feelings, rather than marginalized or dismissed." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Validation_therapy

Is other words, Validation Therapy is a way for you to enter into the reality of the client with dementia in order to connect with them and help them to feel cared for.

Naomi Feil is such an amazing person and her work with dementia clients has been so beneficial to geriatric health care.
 

Naomi gives us these 10 principles:

Taken from The Validation Breakthrough: Simple Techniques for

Communicating with People with Alzheimer's -Type Dementia

Naomi Feil (1993)

 

1. All people are unique and must be treated as individuals.
2. All people are valuable, no matter how disoriented they are.
3. There is a reason behind the behavior of disoriented old-old people.
4. Behavior in old-old age is not merely a function of anatomic changes in the brain, but reflects a combination of physical, social and psychological changes that take place over the lifespan.
5. Old-old people cannot be forced to change their behaviors. Behaviors can be changed only if the person wants to change them.
6. Old-old people must be accepted nonjudgmentally.
7. Particular life tasks are associated with each stage of life. Failure to complete a task at the appropriate stage of life may lead to psychological problems.
8. When more recent memory fails, older adults try to restore balance, in their lives by retrieving earlier memories. When eyesight fails, they use the mind's eye to see. When hearing goes, they listen to sounds from the past.
9. Painful feelings that are expressed, acknowledged, and Validated by a trusted listener will diminish. Painful feelings that are ignored or suppressed will gain strength.
10. Empathy builds trust, reduces anxiety, and restores dignity.

If you are interested in learning more about Validation Therapy check out this website: https://vfvalidation.org/

Lastly, check out this video of Naomi using Validation Therapy with a client who is virtually non-verbal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrZXz10FcVM
(Brings me to tears every time I watch it)