Psychodynamic psychotherapy with the elderly.
The authors first review issues related to the life cycle and the significance of time for older adults. They then consider the types of psychopathological problems that can occur in older individuals and discuss the indications for and the goals and effectiveness of psychodynamic psychotherapy in older patients. The next section of the paper addresses technical aspects of psychotherapy with older patients, including transference, countertransference, and process issues. The article concludes with a consideration of practical problems (e.g., vision or hearing deficits) as well as other types of challenges that may need to be dealt with in providing psychotherapy to older patients.
University of Queensland and Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, Australia.
R
R
Leigh
F
F
Varghese