Beverly Thorn, Phd.
drBeverlyThorn.com
Psychologist, Author, Pain Management Expert, Alzheimer’s Caregiver, End-of-Life Doula
Care for the Dementia Caregiver
INDEPENDENT BOOK PUBLISHERS AWARD (IBPA)
NEXT GENERATION INDIE BOOK AWARD
WINNER (SELF-HELP)
NATIONAL INDIE EXCELLENCE AWARDS (IPPY)
FINALIST (CAREGIVING)
ERIC HOFFER AWARD
1st runner up (SELF-HELP)
FEATHERED QUILL BOOK AWARD
Hear Dr. Thorn Speak
Alabama public radio review
DON NOBLE’S REVIEW
Now a retired English professor at The University of Alabama, Dr. Don Noble’s specialties are Southern and American literature. He also hosts Bookmark on Alabama Public Television. Hear his review of the book.
PDF OF PRESENTATION | Youtube Video of Presentation
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When it's Time for Hospice
January 25. 2026
When our Primary Care Physician told me that my husband Walt was ready for hospice, I was in shock.
What does enrolling your loved one in hospice mean? Since many of us fear death, bringing hospice into the picture can feel like a dramatic statement that it’s time to face that harsh reality. It does not mean you are giving up on your loved one. Rather, you are focusing on their quality of life.
Desperation. Despair. Surrender. Acceptance. Peace.
Where’s the Grief?
September 22, 2025
I was talking with a woman who’s mother had recently died with dementia. She said didn’t think she could face the grief – she was sure it would kill her. As I told her about the stages that I think I went through, she asked a fair question: “Where’s the grief stage?”
Well, the grief is in each stage.
Dr Thorn writes articles on many issues concerning self-care, brain health, decision points, and other subjects of interest to caregivers and people with dementia. Her blog is open to the public and has no associated fees.
Before I Lose My Own Mind: Online Resource Directory
Professional Reviews
Before I Lose My Own Mind … Professional Indie Review
Drawing on personal experience and written with vulnerability and self-awareness, the memoir–cum–carer’s guide Before I Lose My Own Mind makes caregiving feel more manageable. . . . The prose is lucid and affable, made up of succinct, diary-like essays that humanize the complexities of dementia. . . . A vulnerable educational tool for fellow caregivers of dementia patients
Final Exit Network Magazine
Praise for Before I Lose My Own Mind
This is a book I immediately wanted to give to a friend — and keep a copy for my bookshelf.
Wise, clear, well-researched, and helpful. Many books focus exclusively on the needs of the person with dementia and assume the unpaid family caregiver is a saint without normal human needs.
Not this one.
The “Facts and Insights” sections are fantastic and will save your life when you are too overwhelmed to absorb a full chapter.”
Beverly Thorn sent me an early copy of her book. I read a few pages, thinking I would put it aside and return to it when I had more time available. But I couldn’t stop reading. It unfolds like an Erik Larson book–Beverly Thorn has the gift of propulsive storytelling.
If you have any interest in dementia, then this book is essential reading. I thought I knew a lot about this horrific disease but learned a lot from this book. It is a compelling read, and every page reflects a deep wisdom about life and how to deal with challenges.
This sagacity is accompanied by an incredible candor about her ambivalent feelings towards her beloved husband, Walt, who is battling dementia. The icing on the cake is her prose: pellucid, warm, accessible.
Please read this luminous book.
Clinical psychologist Thorn carefully chronicles her husband’s prediagnosis period beginning in 2004 through his death in 2020, and beyond. Remarkably forthcoming about the ups and downs of her emotional journey, Thorn’s candor, dry humor, and no-nonsense prose makes the potentially challenging material very accessible. Each chapter concludes with helpful “facts and insights” and “resources,” and appendices add immeasurably to the book’s usefulness. Personal and practical, it is a valuable addition to the growing body of literature on the increasingly necessary topic.
Family caregiving is, arguably, the most difficult unsought-after work anyone will ever do. And yet legions of people do it. In the style of Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal, Beverly Thorn’s Before I Lose My Own Mind, is not only a raw and honest journal of a wife’s walk with her husband as he descends into dementia, but contains valuable chapter-by-chapter facts, insights, and resources. It’s an insider story of progressive disease, and a cautionary tale of the importance of documenting wishes for what’s coming—emotionally, medically, and legally—along with the pitfalls. In this moving, and often humorous, love story, we have a front row seat as the author overcomes her denial and learns to fight for her husband. And for herself.
Every page of this book captivated me. The author writes from her own perspective, offering a personal lens on Alzheimer’s that makes Walt’s story highly relatable. She also skillfully presents his viewpoint, doing so with respect and sensitivity. It is evident that she deeply respected Walt, honored his wishes, and never centered the narrative on herself despite her own feelings. While we cannot and should not assume to be in someone else’s position, we might encounter similar situations, and this book encourages you to take what you need from it and make it your own. This is their story, but it could one day be your story, making this book an essential read.
Dr. Thorn on Coping with Chronic Illness
Cognitive Therapy for Chronic Pain
This go-to manual—now revised and significantly expanded with more than 50% new material—has enabled thousands of clinicians to effectively treat clients with chronic pain. In the face of today’s growing opioid crisis, pain self-management techniques are needed now more than ever. The volume shows how to implement 10 treatment modules that draw on proven cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) strategies. In a convenient large-size format, it includes 58 reproducible client handouts and assessment tools that purchasers can photocopy from the book or download and print from the companion website. The website also offers access to downloadable audio recordings of relaxation exercises narrated by the author, plus supplemental resources for treating clients with lower levels of literacy.
Dr. Thorn on Youtube
Dr Beverly Thorn on Youtube discussing how chronic pain affects people and how a psychologist can help.
FREE Patient-friendly Workbooks
The Learning About Managing Pain (LAMP) workbooks are the product of a multi-year effort to provide simplified evidence-based non-medical treatment for chronic pain. These workbooks provide a user-friendly approach to promote pain management skills. My research compared simplified cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) to psychosocial pain education. Both reduced patient pain & depression and increased everyday function more than medical treatment by itself. The more structured, step-by-step CBT treatment was more useful to people with less education, but both approaches were effective. Both the Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and the Pain Education workbooks appear below. There is a patient version of each, and a therapist edition of each.
Workbooks are available for FREE download by clicking here.
Beverly E. Thorn
Beverly E. Thorn, PhD, ABPP, is Professor Emerita of Psychology at the University of Alabama, where she was on the faculty for 30 years, including serving as Director of the Clinical Psychology PhD program for 15 years and Department Chair for 5 years. She is board certified in clinical health psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology. She is the recipient of the 2018 Wilbert E. Fordyce Clinical Investigator Award from the American Pain Society, the 2020 Ronald Melzack Lecture Award from the International Association for the Study of Pain, and is a Fellow of the Society for Health Psychology (Division 38 of the American Psychological Association – APA), the Society of Clinical Psychology (Division 12 of the APA), and the Society of Behavioral Medicine.
Dr. Thorn was the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Clinical Psychology and has been on the editorial boards of several scientific journals, including Health Psychology, Pain, Journal of Pain, and European Journal of Pain. Her research has focused on investigating the important components of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for chronic painful conditions, for which she has received grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Patient Centered outcomes Research Institute, as well as private foundations.
Since retiring in 2016, she has remained actively involved in dissemination and implementation of CBT for chronic pain with low-income, multiply disadvantaged populations. She also consults in health care settings to help train behavioral health providers to implement CBT for pain management. More recently, Dr. Thorn has been speaking and writing on the subjects of aging, dementia care, and end-of-life issues.
Curriculum Vitae (click for complete CV)
Research Interests
Assessment and treatment of persistent painful conditions; health behaviors; living with chronic illness.
Clinical, Teaching, and Speaking Interests
Simplifying psychological treatments for chronic pain.
Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease
Reducing caregiver stress/care for the caregiver
End of life decision making for individuals and families
Affiliations
Clinical Health Psychology
Clinical Geropsychology
Health and Aging
Copyright 2025. all rights reserved
Beverly E. Thorn, Phd.
Email: bthorn@ua.edu