Richard Cheston – författare

"Rik Cheston is one of the pioneers of psychotherapy in dementia. This book integrates his clinical expertise and research, and is brought vividly to life by Rik’s personal reflections and case examples drawn from his vast experience […] this book will be one that I keep coming back to and share."Dr Emma Wolverson, Clinical Psychologist, Senior Lecturer in Ageing and Dementia, Research Lead Dementia, UK"This is a thoughtful and, at times, provocative book, providing knowledge and insights from theoretical and practical perspectives […] Cheston has set out to challenge you; which he does extremely well."Professor Ian Andrew James, Innovations Team, CNTW NHS Trust and honorary professor at the University of Bradford, UK"In this brilliant and timely book, Richard Cheston […] draws upon […] over 30 years of insightful clinical practice to discuss not only psychotherapy but a whole lot more. The book is lucidly written so can be valuable not only to specialists but to anyone whose work or personal life brings them into contact with dementia. Actually, that’s most of us."Tom Dening, Professor of Dementia Research, Mental Health & Clinical Neurosciences, University of Nottingham, UK"This is a clear, accessible and beautifully written legacy of psychotherapeutic endeavour in dementia care […] This book is a seminal text for all who are committed to continually improving their practice in person-centred dementia care."Esme Moniz-Cook Professor Emerita (Clinical Psychology, Ageing and Dementia Care), University of Hull, UK.  Founder Chair, now board member INTERDEM There is little opportunity for people living with dementia to talk about their experiences and what is happening to them. This often makes it harder for them to adjust to, and to accept, the diagnosis. Dementia and Psychotherapy Reconsidered introduces a new and distinctive way of thinking about dementia. Each of the four sections is augmented with examples from the author’s 30 years of clinical and research experience and offers an accessible approach from mainstream psychotherapeutic and psychological frameworks that:• Places dementia into a psychological context of loss, threat and change• Addresses the research and clinical evidence underpinning psychotherapy; whether this is delivered to individuals, couples or groups• Sets out a model of adjustment to dementia and outlines how talking about dementia needs to be tailored to the stage of change• Explores how psychotherapy and counselling can be adapted to accommodate the client’s cognitive changes and why we need to acknowledge that talking about dementia is not always possible or desirable Dementia and Psychotherapy Reconsidered is applicable not only to psychotherapists and counsellors, but to clinicians and families who are supporting people living with dementia post-diagnosis and want to find new ways of talking about their experiences.The Reconsidering Dementia Series is an interdisciplinary series published by Open University Press that covers contemporary issues to challenge and engage readers in thinking deeply about the topic. The dementia field has developed rapidly in its scope and practice over the past ten years and books in this series will unpack not only what this means for the student, academic and practitioner, but also for all those affected by dementia.Series Editors: Dr Keith Oliver and Professor Dawn Brooker MBE.Richard Cheston worked as a Clinical Psychologist in the NHS before becoming Professor of Dementia Research at the University of the West of England, UK in 2012.

"Rik Cheston is one of the pioneers of psychotherapy in dementia. This book integrates his clinical expertise and research, and is brought vividly to life by Rik’s personal reflections and case examples drawn from his vast experience […] this book will be one that I keep coming back to and share."Dr Emma Wolverson, Clinical Psychologist, Senior Lecturer in Ageing and Dementia, Research Lead Dementia, UK"This is a thoughtful and, at times, provocative book, providing knowledge and insights from theoretical and practical perspectives […] Cheston has set out to challenge you; which he does extremely well."Professor Ian Andrew James, Innovations Team, CNTW NHS Trust and honorary professor at the University of Bradford, UK"In this brilliant and timely book, Richard Cheston […] draws upon […] over 30 years of insightful clinical practice to discuss not only psychotherapy but a whole lot more. The book is lucidly written so can be valuable not only to specialists but to anyone whose work or personal life brings them into contact with dementia. Actually, that’s most of us."Tom Dening, Professor of Dementia Research, Mental Health & Clinical Neurosciences, University of Nottingham, UK"This is a clear, accessible and beautifully written legacy of psychotherapeutic endeavour in dementia care […] This book is a seminal text for all who are committed to continually improving their practice in person-centred dementia care."Esme Moniz-Cook Professor Emerita (Clinical Psychology, Ageing and Dementia Care), University of Hull, UK.  Founder Chair, now board member INTERDEM There is little opportunity for people living with dementia to talk about their experiences and what is happening to them. This often makes it harder for them to adjust to, and to accept, the diagnosis. Dementia and Psychotherapy Reconsidered introduces a new and distinctive way of thinking about dementia. Each of the four sections is augmented with examples from the author’s 30 years of clinical and research experience and offers an accessible approach from mainstream psychotherapeutic and psychological frameworks that:• Places dementia into a psychological context of loss, threat and change• Addresses the research and clinical evidence underpinning psychotherapy; whether this is delivered to individuals, couples or groups• Sets out a model of adjustment to dementia and outlines how talking about dementia needs to be tailored to the stage of change• Explores how psychotherapy and counselling can be adapted to accommodate the client’s cognitive changes and why we need to acknowledge that talking about dementia is not always possible or desirable Dementia and Psychotherapy Reconsidered is applicable not only to psychotherapists and counsellors, but to clinicians and families who are supporting people living with dementia post-diagnosis and want to find new ways of talking about their experiences.The Reconsidering Dementia Series is an interdisciplinary series published by Open University Press that covers contemporary issues to challenge and engage readers in thinking deeply about the topic. The dementia field has developed rapidly in its scope and practice over the past ten years and books in this series will unpack not only what this means for the student, academic and practitioner, but also for all those affected by dementia.Series Editors: Dr Keith Oliver and Professor Dawn Brooker MBE.Richard Cheston worked as a Clinical Psychologist in the NHS before becoming Professor of Dementia Research at the University of the West of England, UK in 2012.

The Living Well with Dementia Course: A Workbook for Facilitators will be an indispensable guide to providing support to people after they have received a dementia diagnosis. The workbook provides facilitators with a realistic but positive approach to helping people with dementia understand and adjust to their condition, helping them to live as well as possible.This workbook outlines the Living Well with Dementia course, a post-diagnostic course for people who have recently received a diagnosis of dementia. Its session-by-session structure, along with e-resources including handouts for course participants, will help facilitators provide a realistic but positive approach to support after a diagnosis.Aimed at facilitators, and drawing on the authors’ many years of clinical and research experience, The Living Well with Dementia Course workbook will be of great assistance to healthcare professionals and support workers in many different settings, including specialist NHS dementia services, primary care services and the voluntary and community sector.

The Living Well with Dementia Course: A Workbook for Facilitators will be an indispensable guide to providing support to people after they have received a dementia diagnosis. The workbook provides facilitators with a realistic but positive approach to helping people with dementia understand and adjust to their condition, helping them to live as well as possible.This workbook outlines the Living Well with Dementia course, a post-diagnostic course for people who have recently received a diagnosis of dementia. Its session-by-session structure, along with e-resources including handouts for course participants, will help facilitators provide a realistic but positive approach to support after a diagnosis.Aimed at facilitators, and drawing on the authors’ many years of clinical and research experience, The Living Well with Dementia Course workbook will be of great assistance to healthcare professionals and support workers in many different settings, including specialist NHS dementia services, primary care services and the voluntary and community sector.

Over the last ten years a number of new concepts have emerged within social psychology, gerontology, socio-linguistics and psychotherapy which present a challenge to the view of dementia as simply an organic illness. These ideas have led to service innovations including the development of support groups for people with dementia; the adaptation of psychotherapeutic approaches to this client group; and the development of methods of care evaluation from the perspective of the dementia sufferer. This book seeks to summarize these 'new' ideas thereby bringing together, for the first time, a wide range of critical thinking relating to old age and dementia.The authors aim to advance a psychological framework from which to understand the experience of dementia from the perspective of the dementia sufferer, so making intelligible the symptoms of dementia and setting out new avenues of care such as the need to adopt psychotherapeutic/counselling approaches as an integral part of care. Including background, clear argument and practical guidelines, this insightful and comprehensive study makes an important contribution to the currently emerging trend in dementia care towards person-centred work.

This book explores how dementia acts as an existential threat, both to people diagnosed with the condition, and to their carers. The authors highlight how dementia not only gradually erodes our most fundamental abilities, but that it does so at a time of life when the resources of individuals, couples, and families are already stretched. While over time many people who are living with dementia are able to adapt to their diagnosis and acknowledge its impact on them, for many others it remains too threatening and painful to do this. The book draws on examples from clinical practice and experimental studies to argue that a range of responses, such as searching for long-dead parents or clinging to previous identities, all represent ways in which people living with dementia attempt to protect themselves against the emotional impact of the condition. Finally, the authors set out new ways of intervening to boost psychological resources and thereby support people in facing the existential threat of dementia.