Never Too Old to Play: Puppetry as a Therapeutic Intervention in Middle-to-Late Stage Dementia

Author

• Cat Potts, Lesley UniversityFollow

Date of Award

Spring 5-17-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MCM - MA Clinical Mental Health Counseling

Department

Expressive Therapies

Advisor

Raquel Stephenson

Abstract

Neurocognitive changes associated with dementia impact an individual’s ability to function in everyday life. Modern approaches to dementia care emphasize meeting the individual where they are at, which may often involve nontraditional therapeutic techniques. Drama therapy, a type of therapy that implements elements of performance and creativity, has been successfully utilized with this population. Drama therapy consists of core processes, which may vary based on the interventions used. This paper explores the core process of play through the use of a puppet when engaging with individuals with middle-to-late stage dementia. A four session community engagement project was conducted, resulting in emerging themes of a puppet functioning as a projective object, a relational tool, and a mechanism that provides permission to play.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

Recommended Citation

Potts, Cat, "Never Too Old to Play: Puppetry as a Therapeutic Intervention in Middle-to-Late Stage Dementia" (2025). Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses. 905.
https://digitalcommons.lesley.edu/expressive_theses/905