Contextual Therapy for Couples who are Primary Caregivers for a Parent(s) with Alzheimer’s Disease

Abstract

The number of individuals experiencing Alzheimer’s disease is increasing as the population ages. The majority of individuals experiencing Alzheimer’s disease receive care from a family member, most often a spouse or adult child. Adult child caregivers have unique needs and life situations that put them at increased risk for caregiver burden and burnout. While both individual therapy and family therapy have been used with family caregivers, little scholarship has explored the role of couples therapy in improving caregiver outcomes. This article explores contributing factors to adult child caregiver burden and applies contextual therapy to treat these problems in couples therapy. We use a clinical vignette to illustrate the application of fairness, balance, loyalty conflicts, and constructive/destructive entitlement to caregiving. In all, we identify common dynamics in couples wherein one or both partners are primary caregivers for parents with Alzheimer’s disease and provide clinical suggestions on how to assess and treat these challenges in couples therapy.