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The Hardest Passage: A Psychoanalyst Accompanies Her Patient’s Journey into Dementia

Author(s) : Maxine Anderson

Reviews and Endorsements

In this tender masterwork, Dr Maxine Anderson takes us on a voyage into progressing dementia. It is a seafarer’s guide for clinicians, family members, and caregivers who are faced with the responsibility of caring for people who are losing mental functioning. While it logs the illness, at a deeper layer, the book records the value of attentive care and commitment which aids the sense of well-being that we all desire, and which may aid the waning patient’s sense of being well-cared for rather than feeling mired in the confusion and terror of receding capacities. The story begins with Dr Anderson’s tender professional care for Sally, a woman struggling with early Alzheimer’s disease, and broadens into a deep insight into the collective care that is required for her and her caregivers over time. Along the way, the reader is drawn into this voyage and experiences the love, loss, and grieving that is part of the dementia experience. This book is a must read for understanding dementia and people who live it every day.
Daniel M. Brener, MD

Maxine Anderson’s monograph describing her work with a patient whose cognitive abilities slowly descend into the void of dementia is a shining example of “applied clinical psychoanalysis.” Deeply humane, poignant, and engaging, it not only delves into the themes of loss, fear, helplessness, and intellectual decline, but also those of dignity, resilience, and the power of human connectedness. Anderson’s approach embodies the tender core of psychoanalytic acumen at its best!
Salman Akhtar, MD, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, Jefferson Medical College; Training and Supervising Analyst, Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia

Maxine Anderson braves uncharted waters with her sensitively detailed description of a woman’s journey toward the gradual loss of herself and of her husband/ caretaker’s pain. Dr. Anderson astutely modified her analytic approach to meet their varying needs as the illness progressed. Caringly, she used and contained her own painful observations, uncertainty, and feelings. Thank you for sharing a thoughtful and needed account of The Hardest Passage.
Mary Kay O’Neil, PhD, C.Psych, FIPA, Supervising and Training Psychoanalyst, Canadian Institute of Psychoanalysis

The fundamental needs of our emotional life emerge more clearly as we face the progressive losses of old age and more forcefully so in early dementia. Maxine Anderson has courageously accepted to accompany her former analysand through that journey. She shares with us the rich story of her experience. The vastness of what is stimulated in the reader is the gift a shared lived experience provides.
Elie Debbané, Training and Supervising Analyst, Northwestern Psychoanalytic Society & Institute, Seattle