Blue Note Psychotherapy

Analyzing the "Death of the Personality" in Dementia Care

What happens to the mourning process when the physical body outlives the personality? In our latest clinical deep dive, we examine the specific psychological landscape of Alzheimer’s and dementia caregiving—an experience defined by Ambiguous Loss and Anticipatory Grief.

Current research, including the Marwit and Meuser Caregiver Grief Inventory, indicates that the primary barrier to effective caregiving is often not the physical labor, but the profound emotional erosion of the relationship.

This article explores:

The Erosion of Shared Narrative: How the loss of a patient's memory forces the caregiver to become the sole custodian of a shared past.

Death of the Personality: Distinguishing between the physical life of the patient and the "assemblage of qualities" that defines their personhood.

The Role Transition: The psychological impact of transitioning from a reciprocal relationship (spouse or child) to a one-sided clinical provider.

Disenfranchised Grief: Why society’s lack of ritual for "the long goodbye" leads to systemic isolation and increased psychopathology in caregivers.

For a detailed analysis of how technology, clinical burden, and modern psychology intersect in the dementia journey, read the full post below.

Read the analysis:
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The Long Goodbye: Understanding Anticipatory and Ambiguous Grief in Dementia Caregivers — Blue Note Psychotherapy Explore the "invisible grief" of Alzheimer’s caregiving, the "death of personality," and how to manage the unique burden of ambiguous loss.

How to Support a Loved One Experiencing Grief: What Research Says About Social Support

When someone you care about is grieving, it’s common to feel unsure of what to say or do. Many people worry about saying the wrong thing—or feel pressure to somehow make the pain better.

The reality is that grief doesn’t need to be fixed. What matters most is how we show up.

In this post, we explore what research actually says about supporting someone through grief. From the role of emotional presence to the impact of loneliness and disconnection, this article breaks down what tends to help—and what can unintentionally make things harder.

Some of the key takeaways:

Why emotional support matters more than advice or problem-solving
How consistent, ongoing connection can reduce isolation
What grieving individuals say is actually helpful
Common responses that can feel dismissive, even when well-intentioned

If you’ve ever wanted to support someone but didn’t know how, this offers a clear, grounded place to start.

Read the full post here:

How to Support Someone Through Grief: What Research Says About Social Support — Blue Note Psychotherapy Learn how to support someone experiencing grief using research-backed strategies. Explore what helps, what to avoid, and how social support impacts healing.

New blog post up on the Blue Note Psychotherapy blog:

**Motivation to Change in Therapy: Understanding How Change Actually Happens**

One of the most common assumptions about therapy is that people show up ready to change. In reality, that’s rarely the case.

Most people start somewhere in between—unsure, ambivalent, or just beginning to question whether something in their life needs to shift. And that’s not a problem—that’s actually where meaningful work begins.

In this post, we break down how motivation really works using several well-established psychological models. From the Stages of Change to Motivational Interviewing, these approaches help explain why change can feel difficult, inconsistent, or slow—and what actually helps move it forward.

If you’ve ever felt “stuck,” unmotivated, or unsure where to begin, this article offers a clearer and more realistic way of understanding that experience.

You don’t have to be fully ready. You just have to start somewhere.

Read the full post here:

Motivation to Change in Therapy: Stages of Change, COM-B Model & Motivational Interviewing Explained — Blue Note Psychotherapy Learn how motivation to change works in therapy using the Stages of Change model, Social Cognitive Theory, COM-B, and Motivational Interviewing—explained with real-life examples.

New blog post in our **Therapeutic Frameworks, Modalities, and Models series**.

**Part 4: Understanding Therapeutic Models**

In Part 4, we shift focus to therapeutic models—the concepts and theories that help shape how clinicians understand things like grief, trauma, behavior change, and emotional regulation.

These models have a wide range of uses in therapy. They can help therapists organize complex clinical information, guide decision-making in treatment, and offer ways of understanding experiences that many people go through. For clients, they can also provide language that makes difficult or confusing experiences feel more understandable and less isolating.

In this article, we explore a variety of commonly used models across different areas of psychology and discuss how they continue to influence both research and everyday clinical practice.

If you’ve been following the series, this is an important piece of the bigger picture—and if you’re new, it’s a great way to better understand how therapy works behind the scenes.

Read Part 4 here:
[https://www.bluenotepsychotherapy.com/blog-1-1/a8b9spq865x5roifqcwt0goy91mt1k]