Guiding Principles
The skills and experience of CST group facilitators are integral to the effective running of sessions. There are 18 'Key Principles' which facilitators must incorporate into sessions:
- Mental stimulation
- New ideas, thoughts and associations
- Using orientation, both sensitively and implicitly
- Opinions rather than facts
- Using reminiscence as an aid to the here-and-now
- Providing triggers to aid recall
- Continuity and consistency between sessions
- Implicit (rather than explicit) learning
- Stimulating language
- Stimulating executive functioning
- Person-centredness
- Respect
- Involvement
- Inclusion
- Choice
- Fun
- Maximising potential
- Building / strengthening relationships
These principles are outlined in more detail in our training manual (12) and on CST training courses.