Home – Affirmative Therapy

Our Story

What Affirmative Therapy Is

Affirmative Therapy offers affirmation recordings designed to support individuals living with memory and cognitive challenges, as well as their caregivers. These recordings are intended to encourage relaxation, comfort, and overall well-being. Each MP3 (or CD) features positive affirmations thoughtfully paired with soothing flamenco guitar music.

The Health and Well-Being recording is created for individuals experiencing memory and cognitive challenges. These affirmations nurture a sense of calm, relaxation and emotional ease while reinforcing feelings of comfort and connection with others. Many listeners find the positive messages supportive during moments of restlessness or unease.

The Caregiver recording is designed for both family and professional caregivers. It’s affirmations acknowledge the importance of the caregiver’s role while encouraging moments of grounding and restoration. Listeners often describe the experience as calming and reassuring during the natural stresses of caregiving.

Together these recordings are intended to provide gentle moments of respite, relaxation and emotional comfort.

Our Personal Story

Affirmative Therapy was created from a deeply personal experience. While my (Donna McCullough) stepfather was living with Alzheimer’s disease, I searched for supportive resources that could bring comfort and calm to both him and my mother, who was his primary caregiver. Through trusted colleague and friend (Barbara Klein-Robuck), I was introduced to a collection of affirmations* that resonated with the emotional needs we were witnessing. Together, we recognized the potential of combining these affirmations with soothing music, leading to the creation of affirmative therapy.

*Affirmative Therapy Products(add copyright symbol) are based on and inspired by the clinical and research findings of Barbara Derrick, PhD in South Carolina. For more information and details about her work, please refer to her article published in the September/October 2007 issue of Venture Inward magazine.

The Role of Music

Each Affirmative Therapy recording is paired with original flamenco guitar music, thoughtfully composed to support the emotional purpose of the affirmations. Our musician, Mark Romero, who approaches music as a form of energy healing, created each piece specifically to complement the experience of the recordings.

For the Health and Well-Being recording, the music encourages calm, relaxation and emotional ease. For the Caregiver recording, it provides grounding and a sense of renewal during the natural stresses of caregiving.

The music is designed not only to be soothing but also to enhance the listener’s connection to the affirmations, creating a gentle and restorative environment. Together, the affirmations and music offers moments of peace, comfort, and emotional support for both listener’s and caregivers.

Why Use Affirmative Therapy ?

These recordings offer the opportunity to enhance the positive aspects of any environment with minimal time requirement.

Additionally, the recordings are:

Easy to implement
Non-invasive
Non-pharmacological
Cost-effective

How to Use

Affirmations for Health and Well-Being may be listened to at any time of day. They can be especially helpful during moments of anxiety, restlessness, agitation, or when a person is feeling unsettled or disconnected. Listeners are encouraged to relax and enjoy the recordings as long as they feel comfortable.

For maximum benefit, play the Affirmations for Health and Well-Being recording at the end of the day when the listener is getting ready to go to sleep and again upon awakening. It is OK for the patient to fall asleep while listening. For best results many listeners choose to engage with the recording twice a day for at least 30 days and report meaningful benefits from this routine.

Playing the recording during group activities may help create a peaceful, calming atmosphere that promotes serenity and relaxation within the environment.

The Affirmations for Caregivers recording is created to support moments of rest and renewal. It may be enjoyed during a break from caregiving responsibilities, as well as at the beginning or end of the day.

For the greatest benefit, consider listening for at least ten minutes each day over a 30-day period.

Ryan, please add “Back to Top” after each section

Listen and Relax

MP3 recordings are $15.00 for individuals, $30.00 for facilities with less than 20 residents and $100.00 for facilities with more than 20 residents.

CDs are $20.00 for individuals, $35.00 for facilities with less than 20 residents and $100.00 for facilities with more than 20 residents (Large facilities will get 5 CDS for $100).

Articles and Research

While formal research on Affirmative Therapy is still limited, there is a growing body of evidence supporting the underlying techniques used in our recordings–particularly the use of positive affirmations as a cognitive strategy to support emotional well-being and thought patterns.

Positive affirmations are recognized in psychological literature as a tool that can help interrupt negative thought cycles and promote more constructive internal dialogue, a process closely related to techniques used in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Research has shown that self-affirmation exercises can have measurable effects on well-being, self-perception, and emotional regulation, and may help people respond more openly to stress-related challenges.

In addition, we have listed below three small research projects exploring how Affirmative Therapy recordings may support individuals living with memory and cognitive challenges and their caregivers. Limited though these studies are, they provide early insights into the potential benefits of positive affirmations–especially when paired with music–including supporting relaxation, emotional comfort, and receptivity to supportive guidance. Feel free to browse our research and informative articles.

Our Research
Alzheimer’s Project Brief, by Barbara Derrick, PhD and A.C. Holler, Jr. DMin
Overcoming Alzheimer’s: Helping Wally, reprinted with permission from the American Holistic Health Association

What People Are Saying

“Lisa was a new resident at my board and care home. She did not want to be here and she wanted to go home. After playing the recording when she went to bed one night, she woke up the next morning and said to the caregiver “I love you” and “this is a very nice place to live.” Lisa became more interactive with the other residents and more cooperative with the caregivers.

—Mary Yepes, owner of Brandon Manor in Laguna Niguel, California

“My mother did not want to eat, change her clothes or shower. She listened to the recording when she went to bed and the next morning she was smiling and said “What’s for breakfast?” I’m so grateful for this change in her attitude and eating.

—Janie, family caregiver

“Listening to the caregiver recording has helped me with the slight depression I feel. It reinforces my desire to carry out my care-taking responsibilities with a lighter heart and has a calming effect on my frustrations. I recommend this recording for a caregiver in any kind of a situation.”—Evelyn Johnson, family caregiver

“I have been listening to this recording of affirmations at night for several months now and I Love It. It has helped me feel better about others, myself and my surroundings. It encourages me to do better with my memory and other health issues.”—Patrick L. Johnson, PhD, dementia patient

“The patients found the recording to be very relaxing.”—Alejandra Fernandez, facility caregiver

“I just listened to the affirmations, so soothing and healing. I love them!”—Grace Konstanzer, DC, MAT

“I listened to both recordings. They are wonderful and the voice is so relaxing and easy to understand with a hint of cheerfulness! I know I could benefit from listening to these!”—Florence Lefranc, Certified Medicinal Herbalist

“Your meditation recordings were remarkable. I thought the verbal pacing of the one for people living with memory and cognitive challenges was very appropriate for possible delays in verbal processing. The prosody of the verbal style also invokes a soothing emotional response even if the person’s verbal processing is poor. I loved the emotional support offered for the care-givers for their own well-being, laced with encouragement to see their role and their work as vital, important and influential in the day-to-day sense of well-being experienced by their loved one for whom they are responsible.”—Barbara Welsh-Osga, PhD, Clinical Psychologist

“This program is outstanding because it uniquely addresses both the relationship between the elder and caregiver, as well as roles and feelings of both. Caregivers experience a “paradigm shift” in the way they view their mission to help provide quality care. The program helps those in need feel supported and calm. It has helped with my mother’s care in her home, and will also be beneficial for institutional trainings.”—Mary Kay Riley, President, Creative Work/Life Strategies

“These recordings are very beneficial to my residents.”—Lisa Jimenez, Owner and Director of Del Sol facilities in Mission Viejo, California