Unit 6  Section 3Exercise 9 Working with dementia patients
Time slips
I know of a psychologist who works with Alzheimer’s patients. She describes their identity as a “dissolved self.” Her patients have no memory, so she’s found a way to give them another selfhood that doesn’t rely on time. She gathers the people together, shows them a picture, and asks them to tell a story about it.
Some of her patients can only make sounds; others don’t know the names of things. It doesn’t matter—together they make up a story filled with noises and images and characters named A,B,C, D,E. While they’re inventing their tale, they laugh. They touch one another. They wink at the staff. For a few hours each week, they’re back in the world, having a party.
In talking about what they’ve experienced. The students who lend a hand with the sessions say they’re not as afraid of old people as they were at the start.
For examples of stories patients have made using photographs as inspirations, go to http://www.timeslips.org/stories.html#(or start at the website http://www.timeslips.org/index.htmland click on “stories.”
View the following video, which shows Gene Cohen, a professor of psychiatry, talking about interacting with his dad who, like Jerald Winakur's father, has advanced dementia. 
Study Questions
- What does the term “dissolved self” mean to you?
- What do you think of the approaches to Alzheimer’s patients represented in the video clip and your encounter with the Time Slips program?
- What are the principles of interaction guiding Gene Cohen's communication with his father?
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