Out of the Shadows: A Depth Psychoanalytic Approach for Working with Dementia

What you will receive:

  • 4 Live Webinar Sessions with Q & A
  • 4 Links to the Recordings
  • 4 CEC’s

The statistics are sobering: more than 6 million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer’s with that number expected to rise to nearly 13 million by 2050.  Alzheimer’s and other dementias disproportionately impact women, Hispanics and Black Americans. Over 11 million Americans provide unpaid care for people with Alzheimer’s or other dementias. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, an additional 1.2 million additional direct care workers will be needed to care for the growing population of people living with dementia.

Ageism and Ableism have pushed dementia and those it touches into the shadow of our cultural psyche. However, statistics don’t always tell the whole story; it’s not all doom and gloom. In this four week on-line series, educator, teacher and  Co-founder of the Anti-Ageism Clearinghouse, Kyrie Carpenter, will offer a depth psychoanalytic perspective for bringing our understanding of dementia out of the cultural shadow and explore new approaches and perspectives in working with people experiencing dementia.

This four week series will explore how a depth perspective offers healing for those touched by the diagnosis and the animus mundi, world soul. We will start with shared language; what do we mean when we say dementia? Next, we will explore ageism and ableism from an intersectional perspective. Focusing on how ageism and ableism have pushed dementia and those it touches into the shadow of our cultural psyche. Each week’s group discussion time will explore our thoughts, feelings, and experiences of dementia from a depth perspective. The course concludes on a practical note.  We discuss the best ways to be with people experiencing dementia and how to overcome challenges and ease suffering for everyone.

This Course is Ideal If:

  • You work in aging services or a medical profession
  • You have a diagnosis of cognitive change
  • You love someone experiencing cognitive change
  • You’re afraid you or someone you love will be diagnosed with dementia

Course Overview:

Week 1 – Dementia 101: Defining our terms and the diagnosis

Week 2 – Dementia in the Shadow: Exploring how the experience is part of the shadow of American Culture and how this amplifies suffering.

Week 3 – Healing Dementia: An alternate perspective on the phenomenon of dementia

Week 4 – Tending Dementia: Looking at best practices and innovative ways to be with the phenomenon.

By the End of This Course You Will Be Able To:

  • Define dementia, ageism, ableism, and healing.
  • Explain how ageism and ableism compound adding additional suffering to the experience of dementia.
  • Apply a depth perspective to your own thoughts and feelings about dementia.
  • Prepare to live well with a diagnosis of dementia for yourself or someone you love.