Therapy Over 50: Aging Issues in Psychotherapy and the Therapist’s Life

Traditional training in counseling and psychotherapy makes minimal distinctions on the ages of the client and therapist in the treatment process. Therapy Over 50: Aging Issues in Psychotherapy and the Therapist’s Life highlights how therapy is frequently a very different process for the older client and therapist. Specifically, this book explores: a) how therapists over 50 (or approaching that life transition) experience, struggle, and enjoy doing therapy in ways that are different from when they were younger (this includes their special challenges, adaptations, fears, and joys); and b) the landscape related to working clinically with aging clients, and those approaches and strategies that work best with this population. The text also includes both current research and classic literature on the subject of aging issues in therapy, as well as current excerpts from interviews the authors will conduct with some of the most notable aging figures in the fields of counseling, social work, marriage and family therapy, and clinical psychology.

Therapy Over 50 ultimately deals with the inevitable and unrelenting changes that take place along with corresponding lost and reconfigured dreams as well as the approaches and strategies that are most effective for working with this population. With an optimistic tone, Kottler and Carlson promote a philosophy of positive aging and development for the therapist and client, thereby offering hope and inspiration for both parties