Meeting the specialized physical needs of individuals who are living with a form of memory impairment has long been a priority for caregivers, but it is all too easy to dismiss or diminish their complex emotional needs.
Having grown up among seniors in the assisted living home where her parents worked, Naomi Feil quickly came to the realization that residents longed for more than just physical care and a warm smile. They needed someone to meet them on an emotional level. And so she developed a new method of communicating deeply rooted in empathy to help caregivers forge a bond of trust and see the world through their residents’ eyes. She calls it Validation therapy.
Validation simply requires that you meet someone where they are in that moment. A caregiver must let go of their own judgement and feel those emotions with them. This allows the person’s feelings to be expressed, heard, and validated. In turn, the emotional burden is lifted because their needs have been met by the caregiver. As Naomi says, “Feel with them, not just for them.”
