At the heart of Memory Bridge’s mission is learning. Learning to see one another in new and life-giving ways. Learning how to find community and communion when we can no longer communicate as we once did. And learning from those who have gone before us, blazing new trails in the field of person-centered care.
Personal and professional development could be said to be linked in all fields—after all, personal and professional lives are never wholly separate—but this is especially true for caregivers, who bring their whole selves to each interaction.
“One of the things we are learning,” Michael Verde says, “is how much caregivers want to learn—to grow their understanding of this art called caregiving, to push their minds past the clichés and the platitudes of marketing brochures. To be lifelong learners and students of the human spirit.”
This is the mission of The Caregiver’s Library. Twice each month, Michael Verde will give a presentation on a book that illuminates some aspect of the caregiver’s experience and offers opportunities for growth. These hour-long webinars are designed to be accessible yet profound: each one a new foray into writings that will nourish the spirits of caregivers.
We invite you to join us, as we embark on this new adventure of growth and becoming.
This webinar series was an eye-opening and life-affirming experience. Michael's passion about the subject is contagious. Highly recommended.
Christy Vogelsang
Michael's talks always move me through laughter, awe, and ultimately tears...by satisfying my thinking brain so fully, that my listening body must open to other possibilities of experiencing truth.
Joshua Crane
loved loved loved it! sitting here in Ireland grinning from ear to ear. Im an occupational threapist and currently teaching healthcare students dementia care in caring for the older person. I love the de-labelling and i feel you have given me so much ammunition to share with my students.
Sonia McGarvey
The philosophy of Memory Bridge is not simply helpful for healthcare providers, it is indispensable. The idea that treating patients and loved ones with humanity allows them to maintain a significant portion of their autonomy is fascinating and something healthcare workers need to be aware of.
Celeste Wilson
Memory Bridge provides imaginative and compassionate ways to consider the dementia experience and those it affects. You are intentional about making the world a better place. Thank you for the tools you offer.
Don Bagwell
My belief structure of what relationship with individuals diagnosed with dementia could be has been fundamentally altered by the presentation Michael Verde gifted us in these webinars. His ability to convey with great enthusiasm complex concepts is extraordinary and compelling.
Wendy E.
I have been a disciple of Buber and Kitwood for over twenty years. Michael Verde, in this webinar series, deepened my understanding and helped me think in new ways. I feel newly inspired in my work and in my life.
Maggie S.
Michael holds two master’s degrees: an MA in literary studies from the University of Iowa, and a MA in theology from the University of Durham, England, where he graduated at the top of his international class. At Lamar University, where he began his teaching career, he was named Teacher of the Year in his third year of teaching–the youngest teacher to ever receive that recognition at the university. He taught English for ten years before founding Memory Bridge. Currently, he is completing his PhD at Indiana University, focusing on empathetic communication and literature and religion.
Michael Verde founded Memory Bridge in 2003 for the purpose of ending the emotional isolation of people with dementia. To date, Memory Bridge’s multiple-award winning educational programs, hosted on three continents, have connected over 8,500 people with and without dementia in one-to-one relationships. In 2008, Michael produced the PBS Documentary There Is a Bridge.
Michael presents across the world on the subjects of literature, world religions, and communicating with people with dementia.