6 ways that art therapy can help people with memory loss

By age 65, 1 in 10 people will exhibit symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, a progressive illness that affects memory and cognitive ability. By age 85, that number increases to 1 in 3. And with more Americans living longer, more families are caring for older relatives who are experiencing memory loss.

Receiving a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease or dementia can be devastating for patients and their families, and caring for a loved one struggling with memory, comprehension, or communication can be difficult.

Making and engaging with art—from looking at art books or pictures or visiting museums and galleries to drawing and painting—can help people with memory loss be happier, healthier, less isolated and more connected.

Here are 6 ways that art therapy can help

1.  Making art with other people can help people with memory loss stay connected with the world around them.

“It brings people together,” says Lesley Associate Professor of Expressive Therapies Raquel Stephenson, who has worked with older adults for more than two decades. “People with Alzheimer’s can become trapped and locked away—their ability to understand abstract thinking goes away; their ability to verbalize and communicate goes away. People tend to become really isolated.”

Creating art in a group environment, she explains, gives people with dementia a non-verbal way to interact with the people around them. “Having that external surprise of color or shape or form that’s happening as the artwork is being created takes the pressure off everyone sitting at that table to talk and comprehend. It doesn’t matter what the picture is about or what the intention is—someone puts something out there and someone else receives it and responds to it. It’s incredibly powerful.”

2.  Art creates an outlet for self-expression and communication.

Many people with Alzheimer’s or dementia lose the ability to communicate verbally. But creating art can give patients a new avenue of expression.

“Their primary door of verbal communication is gone,” says Dr. Stephenson. “But I see them as a full, whole person, and I use the art as a way of helping them to communicate.”

Stephenson recalls a patient who could no longer speak in English—only a few words of Russian, her original language. “She would look around and take notice of what was happening, but she couldn’t really express herself verbally.”

But the patient brightened visibly when she started painting. “She was taking in information and expressing it in the painting. And she was very much connected to what was happening around her. She would smile and point down at her picture. I could slow down and actually sit next to her and pay close attention to the tactile movements she’d make with her fingers, watch her eyes and how she would lean forward and lean back—it all gave me information about how she was engaging in the process. She was joyful. It was a beautiful human connection to be able to witness someone doing that—to leave myself at the door and slow down and focus on all these nonverbal cues.”

3. Art can help create new memories.

Art therapist and Lesley alumna Erica Curcio ’14 runs a therapy practice working with people living with dementia in their homes. “All the artwork behind me is a tangible memory; it's a creation from a moment in time,” she says, referring to the bright paintings that fill her office. “There’s more than words can describe in somebody’s artwork—there’s a feeling behind it; there are stories behind it. And for some people, that artwork that they create, they remember that they created it, they know the story behind it. For people who don’t have language anymore, they might look at their artwork and get very excited about it. They still have that stored memory of that experience and that it was an important moment for them. This goes against what’s taught about people living with dementia, that they no longer can remember short-term information.”

4.  Making art can reduce anxiety and agitation.

For many people with Alzheimer’s, bouts of anxiety or agitation can require medical treatment, which can leave them sluggish and less responsive. For a lot of people, looking at or making art can help keep them calmer and more engaged.

“Many people who have dementia are anxious, or they get distracted easily,” says Stephenson. “This is a way to help them calm and focus and sometimes that lasts throughout the day, to where a person is just happier, less agitated, less anxious. I don’t think it necessarily helps with memory retention. Maybe someday we’ll find out that art making can improve memory. But for me, it’s more about quality of experience, quality of life.”

5.  Caregivers find respite and a fresh perspective through art activities.

Christina Muscatello ’12, an art educator with an M.Ed. from Lesley, is the founder of the Memory Maker Project, which provides art, culture, and advocacy programs for people living with Alzheimer’s. She observes that creating art with people with memory loss has benefits for care providers as well. Art sessions can act as an informal support group for care partners, she explains, creating a space where they can connect with other people. Making art also gives the care partner a chance to reconnect with their loved one as a person and not a patient.

“A lot of memories come up during these programs that the care partner doesn’t think that they’re capable of,” she says. “Maybe there’ll be a funny moment or a tender moment. It also helps to watch the person that you love be able to do something instead of focusing on all the things that they’re not able to do.”

“It benefits the caregiver because they then see them with capabilities,” says Curcio. “They see them with strengths that they don’t honestly see in their regular everyday life. They also see that joy—and that joy is contagious.”

6.  Art helps manage the complex emotions that come with memory loss.

Feelings of anxiety, frustration and sadness are common among people experiencing Alzheimer’s or dementia. Engaging with art can help patients cope with the emotional impact of memory loss.

“The cognitive symptoms of memory loss are forgetting things, getting lost, problems with names and recognition. The emotional symptoms are anxiety, apathy, depression, and anger,” says Muscatello. “We don’t know how to fix the cognitive changes, but we can really work to lessen the emotional symptoms by looking at and making art.”

Curcio uses art therapy to take what she calls “a three C approach” with her clients—choice, control, and confidence. “When I can make choices, I feel in control, and when I feel in control, I feel really good about myself,” she explains. “Those are three things that people lose—the ability to make choices, they lose control of their life, and they lose confidence in themselves. My goal is to fulfill those three things and enhance somebody’s quality of life.”

As of yet, there is no cure for Alzheimer’s, and the progression of the disease can be emotionally difficult for patients, loved ones, and care providers. But for art therapists and educators, working with people with memory loss can be deeply fulfilling.

“It is such a true joy to have the chance to work with people who have dementia, especially advanced dementia,” says Stephenson.

“There’s a lot of suffering that comes along with dementia-related diagnosis, a lot of uphill battles” says Curcio. “But there can also still be a lot of joy.”

Erica Curcio MA '14 is a licensed mental health counselor, registered art therapist and a certified dementia practitioner. You can find her art therapy practice at www.arttherapistsathome.com or on instagram @thetravelingarttherapist

Art educator Christina Muscatello M.Ed. ’12 is the co-founder of The Memory Maker Project, which provides art, culture, and advocacy programs for people living with memory loss. Learn more at www.memorymakerproject.org.

Associate Professor Raquel Stephenson PhD is a board-certified, registered art therapist and a licensed creative arts therapist. She is the author of “Art therapy and creative aging: Reclaiming elderhood, health and wellbeing” and serves as the Program Coordinator for Art Therapy at Lesley University.

Learn more about Expressive Therapies at Lesley

Explore all of Lesley’s undergraduate, graduate and certificate programs in Expressive Therapies and learn more about all the ways that our alumni are using their degrees to find fulfilling careers helping people lead healthier, happier lives. Lesley offers five expressive therapies specializations—in Art, Dance/Movement, Drama, Expressive Arts, and Music Therapy—through campus-based and low-residency delivery models.