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When late life brings a diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease and early life brought trauma. A cognitive‐analytic understanding of loss of mind
Author(s) -
Sutton Laura
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
clinical psychology and psychotherapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.315
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1099-0879
pISSN - 1063-3995
DOI - 10.1002/cpp.366
Subject(s) - psychology , dementia , dilemma , perspective (graphical) , cognition , set (abstract data type) , disease , psychotherapist , reciprocal , psychiatry , psychoanalysis , clinical psychology , medicine , epistemology , philosophy , pathology , artificial intelligence , computer science , programming language , linguistics
This paper contrasts the loss of mind from the loss of brain cells in Alzheimer's Disease and other neurodegenerative conditions with the threats to one's mind from the mindlessness of others from a cognitive‐analytic perspective. Case studies are presented that show how the therapeutic framework of Cognitive‐Analytic Therapy (CAT: Ryle 1990, 1995, 1997) can bring containment for both client and therapist for clients facing this dilemma, particularly when past trauma is potentially overwhelming. This is set in a dialogue with the pioneering work of Tom Kitwood (1990, 1995, 1997) in dementia care, in which Kitwood's thesis of the ‘malignant social psychology’ surrounding people with dementia is re‐stated in terms of ‘reciprocal roles’ developed in Cognitive‐Analytic Therapy. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.