LFPWLI: The Long Goodbye of Alzheimer’s + Jungian Art Practices with Brenda Man-Fletcher

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March 13, 2023 • 71 mins

LFPWLI: The Long Goodbye of Alzheimer's + Jungian Art Practices with Brenda Man-Fletcher

In this episode, Mathew, Dr. Dave, and Brenda discuss the psychology and the art process of Carl Jung, what it was like to be a caregiver to her mother, and how their last moments together changed their family. Brenda talks about being a caregiver alongside her father for her mother through several years of Alzheimer's Dementia. In 2008, her mother suffered a stroke and then passed away. She explains how the Jungian tools and techniques of exploring the psyche and dialoguing with the images and material prepared her for her mother's passing and to this day continue to help her to metabolize her grief. It was the process of painting and the further process of making art jewelry that sustained her and gave her something to focus on. Brenda opens up about her relationship with her mother when she was a child, how that relationship changed as she became her mother's caregiver, and how she helped her parents have a final sacred goodbye.

Brenda Man-Fletcher had been an artist when she was younger, but eventually, life got in the way with her moving out of state, getting married, and having her son. She started following the work of Carl Jung back in 2002, but during the pandemic, she finally had time to learn more about it through reading and online courses. One course focused on Jungian psychology and artistic practice, which got her back into art and led her to start an art business called Manscribe Media.

In this episode, you'll hear:

The first things Brenda noticed about her mother that made her realize something was off before the diagnosis
How to handle caregiving for a difficult parent and the changes their relationship went through
The psychology and the art process of Carl Jung

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