Not All Anxieties are Created Equal (with Michelle Faddoul)

04/07/21 • 25 min

Our guest, Michelle Faddoul, a social worker for Banner Alzheimer’s Institute, shares with us her thoughtful strategies for easing anxiety in a person with dementia, but also in general for anyone experiencing those emotions. Her experience as a therapist for over a decade helps us untangle the stressors and contributing factors that can intensify anxiety and worry, as well as practical resources and strategies to ease anxious feelings and concerns. Recent current events that amplify those behaviors can increase caregiver frustration and disturb a person’s need for rest and calm. She outlines how avoiding common practices or behaviors and replacing them with compensatory strategies and grounding techniques can help you and your loved one to stay more in the moment.

Previous Episode

No One Has Ever Won an Argument with Someone with Alzheimer’s (with Mary Lou Hernandez)

Our guest, Mary Lou Hernandez, a social worker for Banner Alzheimer’s institute, shares with us her practical strategies for helping care partners avoid arguments. She helps us untangle what instigates these interactions and how you can validate the emotions of your loved one with dementia in order to move forward. She reminds us of the obvious triggers that create uncomfortable situations and how to promote an environment that’s more conducive calm, instead of conflict. Understanding that caregiving is a learning process, she implores us to find the positivity in our efforts and be kind to ourselves as we navigate the dementia journey.

Next Episode

When Repetition Becomes Problematic (with Helle Brand)

Our guest, Helle Brand from Banner Alzheimer’s Institute, shares with us her experience as a Physician Assistant, working various age groups and specialties, currently working with persons with cognitive impairment and their families. She helps us untangle the common issue of repetition in people that are dealing with memory issues and how it can be a red flag in a loved one that may not have received a diagnosis yet. She takes us through how repetition is the key to learning when we are young but can be frustrating for caregivers as their person’s disease progresses and it is a sign of deterioration of the brain’s hippocampus. Her clear explanation of the science behind the issue and practical strategies for caregivers to deal with it, make this episode highly valuable for anyone in contact with the dementia community.