Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsHow It’s UsedHow to Do ItEffectiveness
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
How It’s Used
How to Do It
Effectiveness
Validation therapy is a strategy for communicating with people who have dementia that emphasizes empathy and understanding. It is often used to comfort and reassure people who are living withAlzheimer’s diseaseor another kind of dementia. With validation therapy, the caregiver listens to the feelings and concerns of the person, regardless of how they are expressing those feelings.
The basic idea behind validation therapy is that people in the late stages of life may have unresolved issues that drive their behaviors and emotions. The way caregivers or family members respond to these behaviors and emotions can either make them worse or help resolve them.
This article discusses validation therapy for people with dementia and how to implement it. It also goes over some of the evidence for the effectiveness of this treatment strategy.
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What Is Validation Therapy?
Validation therapy is a communication method that helps people with dementia work through the emotions behind their challenging behaviors. These behaviors are viewed as a way to communicate those emotions, especially in people with memory loss, confusion, disorientation, and other symptoms ofdementia.
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How to Use Validation Therapy to Help Someone With Dementia
Imagine that your mother, who has Alzheimer’s disease, lives with you in your home and frequently calls out for her own mother. According to the Validation Training Institute, people who practice validation therapy can use the following techniques in that situation:
Center Yourself
Take a deep breath and slow down. Your initial reaction may be to try to use logic when your mother, who is 92 years old, starts calling out loudly for her mother. But before you react, think — and breathe.
Reminisce
Ask your mother what her mom was like, and what she misses about her.Share a memoryabout your grandmother with your mother, and allow her to express her loneliness.
Use Extremes
Ask her if she always misses her mother, or what she misses most about her mother. This can allow her to process those feelings of grief related to losing her mother.
Match and Express the Emotion
Join with your mother in her feelings. Acknowledge the sadness of losing her mother and the special relationship they had with each other.
Rephrase
Rephrasing her feelings back to her can provide reassurance that you understand and feel her loss. Saying “You must really miss your mother” can decrease her anxiety because she hears you expressing what she is feeling.
Use Senses
Ask questions about her mother. For example, ask about her favorite food that her mother cooked and how it smelled, or how pretty her mother looked when she dressed up.
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How Effective Is Validation Therapy?
Research on the effectiveness of validation therapy is mixed. Different studies have different conclusions, with some confirming its effectiveness and others determining that it’s no more helpful than a placebo.
Researchers evaluating systematic and literature reviews of nonpharmacological dementia treatments concluded that validation therapy does not have any harmful effects, but that the evidence supporting its effectiveness is limited. The researchers said additional high-quality studies were needed.
This doesn’t mean it’s ineffective. It means there wasn’t strong enough data to show that it is helpful.
Validation therapy may work well for some people and not for others. Some clinicians have anecdotal evidence that validation therapy is effective in decreasingchallenging behaviorsand emotional distress, while others have not found it to be helpful.
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Summary
Validation therapy is a strategy for communicating with people who have dementia. It emphasizes listening to the person and validating their feelings, regardless of how they may be expressing those feelings.
4 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Validation Training Institute, Inc.Getting started: What is validation?.Fertalova T, Ondriova I.Non-pharmacological treatment of Alzheimer’s. In:Redirecting Alzheimer Strategy-Tracing Memory Loss to Self Pathology. IntechOpen; 2019. doi:10.5772/intechopen.84893Scales K, Zimmerman S, Miller SJ.Evidence-based nonpharmacological practices to address behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia.Gerontologist. 2018;58(suppl_1):S88-S102. doi:10.1093/geront/gnx167Erdmann A, Schnepp W.Conditions, components and outcomes of Integrative Validation Therapy in a long-term care facility for people with dementia. A qualitative evaluation study.Dementia (London). 2016;15(5):1184-204. doi:10.1177/1471301214556489
4 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Validation Training Institute, Inc.Getting started: What is validation?.Fertalova T, Ondriova I.Non-pharmacological treatment of Alzheimer’s. In:Redirecting Alzheimer Strategy-Tracing Memory Loss to Self Pathology. IntechOpen; 2019. doi:10.5772/intechopen.84893Scales K, Zimmerman S, Miller SJ.Evidence-based nonpharmacological practices to address behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia.Gerontologist. 2018;58(suppl_1):S88-S102. doi:10.1093/geront/gnx167Erdmann A, Schnepp W.Conditions, components and outcomes of Integrative Validation Therapy in a long-term care facility for people with dementia. A qualitative evaluation study.Dementia (London). 2016;15(5):1184-204. doi:10.1177/1471301214556489
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Validation Training Institute, Inc.Getting started: What is validation?.Fertalova T, Ondriova I.Non-pharmacological treatment of Alzheimer’s. In:Redirecting Alzheimer Strategy-Tracing Memory Loss to Self Pathology. IntechOpen; 2019. doi:10.5772/intechopen.84893Scales K, Zimmerman S, Miller SJ.Evidence-based nonpharmacological practices to address behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia.Gerontologist. 2018;58(suppl_1):S88-S102. doi:10.1093/geront/gnx167Erdmann A, Schnepp W.Conditions, components and outcomes of Integrative Validation Therapy in a long-term care facility for people with dementia. A qualitative evaluation study.Dementia (London). 2016;15(5):1184-204. doi:10.1177/1471301214556489
Validation Training Institute, Inc.Getting started: What is validation?.
Fertalova T, Ondriova I.Non-pharmacological treatment of Alzheimer’s. In:Redirecting Alzheimer Strategy-Tracing Memory Loss to Self Pathology. IntechOpen; 2019. doi:10.5772/intechopen.84893
Scales K, Zimmerman S, Miller SJ.Evidence-based nonpharmacological practices to address behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia.Gerontologist. 2018;58(suppl_1):S88-S102. doi:10.1093/geront/gnx167
Erdmann A, Schnepp W.Conditions, components and outcomes of Integrative Validation Therapy in a long-term care facility for people with dementia. A qualitative evaluation study.Dementia (London). 2016;15(5):1184-204. doi:10.1177/1471301214556489
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