07/26/2025
Why Therapists Need Competency in Dementia-Related Caregiving
Caregivers often experience dementia-related grief, shifts in relationship dynamics, role burden sandwiched between generations, and frustration as they witness the progression of disease in a loved one. These experiences are complex, cumulative, and deeply personal.
Research has linked dementia caregiving to higher rates of depression, anxiety, cardiovascular strain, disrupted sleep, and early mortality.
Caregiving is rarely just a set of tasks. It reflects a living relationship, sometimes grounded in closeness, sometimes shaped by unresolved hurt, obligation, or ambivalence. Understanding these emotional and relational layers can help therapists attune more fully to what each caregiver brings into the room and what the caregiver's needs are: stabilization, regulation, processing, and exploration of meaning.
This is not a peripheral area of competence. As dementia rates rise, the mental health field must be prepared to support caregivers with the same clinical depth, clarity, and respect that we offer in trauma work, grief counselling, or identity-focused therapy. Gaining competency in dementia-related caregiving is essential to ethical, effective, and compassionate practice.
Registered Psychologist and Certified Sensorimotor Psychotherapist
