T herapy technique gives staff member a new perspective on care


Good Samaritan Society – Albert Lea, attended a leadership workshop as part of the Albert Lea, Minn., center’s mentor program training. Stacy expected to learn more about emerging techniques in elder care. But she left the half-day workshop inspired to add a whole new dimension to her career, and to the way her center provides care. “At the workshop, one of the


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presenters showed a video of the founder of validation therapy, Naomi Feil,” Stacy says. “After that, I did research on my own about validation therapy and found out that Naomi was going to be in Minneapolis for a workshop.” Stacy went to the workshop and says


Naomi’s presentation was captivating. She talked about the different training options people have to become certified in validation therapy, a specialized form of communication used when working with people who have Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias. “When I was 16, I started


volunteering in nursing homes and working with people with dementia,”


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tacy Johnson, recreation and wellness assistant director at


Stacy says. “You sometimes encounter those who are crying out or yelling, and it’s really hard to talk with them to help them calm down. I hadn’t really seen a good approach to that, how to help those residents alleviate that frustration.” For example, Stacy says, if a resident


is crying out for his mother, who you know has been dead for many years, how can you tell him that? “You could tell the truth, and make him live through that loss all over again,” she says, “or you could give him therapeutic lying, saying she’ll be back later, which doesn’t really help the resident with his feelings either.”


To learn more about validation therapy, visit vfvalidation.org.


Having worked daily with


several residents at Good Samaritan Society – Albert Lea who have some form of dementia, Stacy thought validation therapy could help her provide better care. “Validation therapy


Stacy Johnson


neither tries to orient them to the present time, nor lies to them. It opens lines of honest communication,” she says. She enrolled in the training to become a certified validation worker, which included eight months of coursework and curriculum, including practicing validation therapy with the center’s residents. Validation therapy involves


acknowledging and affirming people to show that their feelings and opinions are heard and respected. Validation therapy is done with empathy, using a set of principles and techniques that allow people to express their needs and thoughts.


Asking open-ended questions is


one of the most successful validation therapy techniques Stacy has seen with residents at the center. If a resident is asking about his mother, Stacy will ask what his favorite memory of her is, what her worst quality was or what he misses most about her. Asking open, polarized questions helps residents with Alzheimer’s process their emotions, whether it’s loss, anxiety, fear or sadness. “I don’t need to understand what


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