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Aging Matters: Humanistic and Transpersonal Approaches to Psychotherapy With Elders With Dementia

The purpose of this study is to discern the relevant and effective components of existential and process-work approaches to the clinical treatment of elderly clients with dementia. This study explores how these specific humanistic and transpersonal approaches to this population’s presenting concerns represent unique alternatives to the mainstream medical model of dementia treatment that pejoratively frames dementia as a mental illness. Ten therapist interns at two of Pacific Institute’s assisted living facilities in San Francisco, CA, were interviewed using open-ended questions designed to elicit detailed accounts of their clinical work using these two therapeutic modalities. The interview transcripts were coded using a qualitative thematic analysis methodology and computer software assistance to identify prominent factors that influenced the therapy, including therapist attitudes, embodiments, clinical conceptualizations, interventions, and impediments to effective treatment. These research results systematically thematize the prominent aspects of existential and process-work approaches in working with older people with mild to advanced symptoms of dementia. It is hoped that this study will inform further exploration of these effective therapeutic modalities in diverse clinical populations and settings.