Advances in diagnostic technologies, such as diagnostic imaging, in recent years have enabled relatively early diagnosis of dementia, the most common cause of which is Alzheimer's disease. As a result, the importance of early initiation of pharmacotherapy with anti-dementia drugs, aimed at delaying the disease progression, has been emphasized. Thus, while initiation of pharmacotherapy from the early stage of dementia is becoming common, there has been a tendency to overlook the importance of psychosocial interventions in these patients.
 In fact, patients with early-stage dementia often become aware of some sort of changes within themselves, and many of them therefore also being to manifest depression or anxiety because of the underlying disease. In other words, they begin to avoid interactions with other people due to anxiety and/or fear of forgetfulness. They often lose self-confidence because of repeated daily failures, which may lead to reactive depression in these patients.
 However, in many clinical settings, such agony of dementia patients does not receive appropriate attention, while anti-dementia therapies are prescribed easily. This kind of practice ignores the "independence" of dementia patients, and may result in therapy interruption, and unnecessary mental disadvantages to patients, in whom a dementia diagnosis may not prompt initiation of appropriate treatment.
 While there are several reasons behind the symptoms of depression or anxiety observed in dementia patients, the reasons vary among patients. In order to identify the reasons in individual patients, it is important to carefully listen to the problems of dementia patients, empathize with their problems, and provide appropriate psychosocial interventions. Doing so will not only improve the symptoms of depression and anxiety in these patients, but also bring about positive changes in their attitudes. These measures would ensure good clinical practice and care, while respecting the "independence" of people with dementia.
 In this article, we present a patient who received Morita Therapy as a technique of psychosocial intervention. We would like to present and discuss cases that receive psychotherapy focused on maintaining the individual patients, or "independence," with consideration given to how the attending physician should listen to people with dementia with a focus on their ongoing lives and adopt approaches that are required to enliven their daily lives.
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