Dementia and Alzheimer’s Mental Health Support for Your Loved One — In Chicagoland
Evidence-informed care for brain health, daily function, and family support. Designed and overseen by a Certified Dementia Care Specialist and delivered by therapists certified in dementia care. Medicaid and Medicare accepted, and grant funding means most families pay nothing out of pocket.
When Someone You Love Has Dementia, You Need More Than Medication
A dementia or Alzheimer’s diagnosis changes everything — for the person living with it, and for the family caring for them. The fear, the grief, the exhaustion, the slow goodbye. Most care plans treat the body and hand out prescriptions. Almost no one treats the mind, the heart, or the family.
Transformative Growth Counseling (TGC) does.
We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit mental health organization serving the greater Chicagoland area and all of Illinois. Our dementia programming is designed and overseen by our founder, Dr. Jessica Swenson — a Certified Dementia Care Specialist and community psychologist with 18 years of clinical experience — and delivered by a team of therapists certified in dementia care. We bring evidence-informed mental health care directly to seniors with dementia, and to the families walking beside them.
Seniors Want Mental Health Care — They’re Just Never Offered It
Too many facilities have no mental health provider at all. Somewhere along the way, leadership decided that old age means you no longer need to tend to your mind. That getting older somehow makes grief, anxiety, loneliness, and depression matter less.
That’s not true. And it never was.
We see the proof every week. Across the many senior groups we run — art therapy, memory loss support, grief groups — we find the same thing again and again: seniors want mental health support, badly. They show up. They open up. They’ve been carrying decades of feelings no one ever asked them about.
Think about who these adults are. Many in the Boomer and Silent Generations were raised in eras when children’s emotions were dismissed — “toughen up,” “don’t cry,” “we don’t talk about that.” They were taught their inner lives didn’t matter. And now, as seniors, we’re doing it to them all over again, telling them through silence and neglect that their emotions still don’t count.
It’s time to stop. Their mental health matters as much as it ever did — and we’re here to prove it.
The Conversation Around Dementia Is Changing
For years, families were told there was nothing to do but wait. Emerging research is challenging that.
A 2024 randomized clinical trial found that an intensive, multi-domain lifestyle program may improve cognition and function in some people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or early Alzheimer’s disease. Larger and longer studies are still needed, but the evidence points toward a comprehensive approach: nourishing food, safe movement, stress reduction, quality sleep, social connection, cognitive engagement, and management of medical risk factors like blood pressure, hearing, and vision.
Our team stays current on this research and builds it into individualized plans designed to support brain health, daily function, and quality of life — working alongside your loved one’s existing doctors and medical team, never around them.
Important: Lifestyle-based dementia support is not a cure and does not replace medical diagnosis or treatment. It is designed to complement medical care and help clients and families function as safely and confidently as possible.
How We Help Families Affected by Dementia
Personalized, Evidence-Informed Care Plans
Our team develops individualized plans grounded in the newest research, built around nutrition, movement, stress and sleep, cognitive and social engagement, and coordination with your loved one’s medical providers. Not a one-size-fits-all checklist. A real plan, for a real person.
Caregiver Support Groups
Caring for someone with Alzheimer’s is one of the hardest things a person can do. Our caregiver support groups give you a place to grieve, breathe, and be understood by people who get it. Facilitated by mental health professionals who specialize in dementia.
Support Groups for People Living With Dementia
A diagnosis is not the end of meaningful conversation, connection, or care. We facilitate clinically guided support groups for individuals living with dementia.
Mini Equine Visits
Everyone’s seen a therapy dog. Almost no one has met a miniature horse. You can bring your parent or loved one to our farmette for a visit with Oreo and Cocoa — Chicagoland’s most famous therapy minis. Studies from The Ohio State University, UC Davis, and Stanford University have documented reduced behavioral symptoms and increased engagement in people with dementia after equine interaction, and a 2022 scoping review in Health & Social Care in the Community found equine-assisted therapies were associated with improved emotional regulation and greater resilience for those coping with grief and loss. As one family told Ohio State researchers, their mother “would never remember what she did at the center during the day, but she always remembered what she did at the farm.”
Meet Oreo!
Location: Oswego
Meet Coco!
Location: Oswego
What Does It Cost? For Most Families, Nothing.
We accept Medicaid and Medicare. And because TGC actively secures grants for elderly populations and community mental health, 100% of our dementia support programming to date has been funded so that no individual or family pays out of pocket.
Choosing a Facility for a Loved One? Ask This One Question.
Before you sign anything, ask the nursing home, memory care, or assisted living community: “Do you have a therapist — a mental health professional — who works with residents and families on the emotional side of dementia?”
Not a physical therapist. Not a psychiatrist managing medications. A therapist.
If the answer is no, tell them about us. We partner with facilities across Chicagoland to bring this care on-site.
FAQ
There isn’t one. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and our dementia programming is funded through a mix of grants we secure for elderly and community mental health, insurance billing where a resident has coverage, and community support. To date, every dementia program we have run has been fully funded, so no resident or family has paid out of pocket. Your facility does not get an invoice either.
No. There is no fee to your community for our on-site groups, care plans, or consultation. We bring our own therapists and materials and work around your schedule, so it adds real programming without adding a line to your budget.
Very little. Our therapists run the groups, write the care plans, and handle their own setup. Your team just helps us coordinate a space and let residents and families know when we are coming. That is about the extent of it.
No. We bill Medicaid and Medicare when a resident has that coverage, and we use grants and community support to cover everyone else, including residents with no insurance at all. Coverage status never decides who gets to join.
Yes. Our programming is designed and overseen by our founder, Dr. Jessica Swenson, a psychologist and Certified Dementia Care Specialist with 18 years of clinical experience. The therapists who deliver our groups and care plans are certified in dementia care.
A psychiatrist usually manages diagnoses and medication. We do something different. We give residents a mental health professional who helps them cope with the grief, fear, and loss of dignity that come with dementia, and we walk families through watching a loved one change. We coordinate with your existing medical team rather than replace it.
That is up to you. We can run ongoing weekly or monthly groups, build care plans for individual residents, or start with a single consultation and grow from there. We shape the schedule around your community, not the other way around.
Yes. Oreo and Coco are trained therapy minis who visit facilities regularly. They wear special shoes made for indoor floors, we carry a certificate of insurance we can send your team ahead of time, and we follow your building’s cleanliness and safety rules. We are glad to talk through allergies or space questions before any visit.
We serve nursing homes, skilled living communities, memory care units, and adult daycares across Kane, Kendall, DuPage, and Will Counties, and the greater Chicagoland area.
Call us at (630) 423-6010. We will talk through what your community needs, whether that is ongoing groups, individual care plans, a consultation, or an equine visit, and build a plan from there.
Talk to us about your loved one, the first conversation is free.
Whether you want ongoing on-site groups, a consultation to start designing your custom TGC programming, or an equine visit during your dementia support group, we’re ready.
Serving nursing homes, skilled living, and adult daycares across Kane, Kendall, DuPage, Will Counties and all of greater Chicagoland.