Take our Dementia Test

Find a therapist to help manage stress

Psychotherapists need to be prepared to work with clients who are family caregivers.

Psychoeducation is crucial when working with caregiver clients.

Focused psychotherapeutic approaches are called for with caregiver clients.

When a 45-year-old woman called seeking an appointment for treatment of depression and anxiety, the psychotherapist assumed she would be a standard case. But during the initial visit, the client said her symptoms had a specific cause: Caring for her father with dementia and two teenage daughters while also holding down a full-time job was stressing her out. Her story gave the therapist pause. Would typical psychotherapeutic modalities help this client? Or would she need a specialized treatment focused on managing caregiving’s many challenges?

As our country ages and the number of American family caregivers continues to rise—from 43.5 million in 2014 to 63 million in 2024, according to the 2025 Caregiving in the U.S. report from AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving—more psychotherapists are fielding calls from prospective clients in the midst of caregiving. To provide care that is appropriate, competent, and effective, those therapists usually realize that they need at least some understanding of caregiving stress. They aren’t sure, however, what ideal caregiver therapy looks like.

Although no professional organization has yet developed formal clinical guidelines in this area, decades of research on caregiver needs and potential interventions point to some general competencies for helping caregivers. As psychologists specializing in caregiver therapy for more than 30 years, we offer these key points that we make to........

© Psychology Today