Cognitive Stimulation Therapy
Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST) is an evidence based group treatment for people with mild-to-moderate dementia. It is the only non-drug therapy recommended to improve cognition, independence and wellbeing by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. We’ve run CST courses since 2009 – here’s what people say about CST:
“I feel very stimulated. At home it’s easy to just muddle through but this reminded me that we can challenge ourselves and gave me ideas of activities I can do.”
“I gained confidence to in an environment that I don’t know well. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming even though we were strangers before this!”
Cognitive Stimulation Therapy, or CST, is a group therapy designed to stimulate thinking and memory in people with mild to moderate dementia.
Each CST course runs once a week for 7 weeks with around 8 participants, and is facilitated by 2 trained members of the ReMind UK psychology team. We aim to run a few CST courses each year.
CST is an evidence-based intervention based on years of research and is currently the only non-drug therapy endorsed by the National Institute for Health and Excellence (NICE) to help boost cognition and wellbeing in dementia. Research has found that CST benefits mood, concentration, confidence, and communication.
During CST sessions, there are activities and discussions centred around 14 different themes, such as childhood, current affairs, being creative, and number games. The facilitators personalise and adapt the session’s activities to the needs of the participants so that they are challenging but still enjoyable.
In our most recent group, activities have included team quizzes, playing boules and skittles, designing and decorating greetings cards, playing word games, listening to classic music, and naming famous faces. There is a big emphasis on sharing thoughts and ideas, getting involved in new and different activities, and having fun, in a sociable, supportive group environment. Throughout the sessions, we aim to maximise thinking, remembering and reminiscing, and concentration and engagement in a person-centred and inclusive way where every group member is heard and valued. The sessions are also a chance for participants to get to know each other and form new friendships, which often continue after the end of the CST course.
What does Cognitive Stimulation Therapy involve?
During the first CST session, the members of the group decide on a group name and theme song together. Each week will consist of a discussion about current news stories, then there are activities based around two themes:
Week 1 – Physical Games & Sounds
Week 2 – Childhood & Food
Week 3 – Current Affairs & Faces/ Scenes
Week 4 – Word Associations & Being Creative
Week 5 – Categorising Objects & Orientation
Week 6 – Using Money & Number Games
Week 7 – Word Games & Team Quiz
Cognitive Stimulation Therapy Course Dates 2026:
- Autumn, September - November 2026
- Mondays/Wednesdays
- ReMind Centre, Bath
Benefits of Cognitive Stimulation Therapy
CST is a therapy that has been well researched with results showing a positive improvement for people with dementia. The programme was devised by psychologist Dr Aimee Spector and has been designed to improve confidence and wellbeing.
‘CST is found to be beneficial by providing a positive experience of being part of a group and also by providing a supportive and nonthreatening environment which in turn has led to improvements in mood, concentration and confidence’. (Spector et al., 2010)
CST is thought to have particular benefits for language and has been shown to significantly improve quality of life in people with dementia.
For loved ones, there are support sessions for carers of people with dementia. Our courses are only possible thanks to generous charitable donations to ReMind UK.