Therapy for Older Adults
With age comes wisdom, experience and unique opportunities for growth and change. For many, the retirement years represent hope and the potential for greater freedom, contentment and adventure. But like all life transitions, navigating through this unchartered territory can bring about challenges. The most common being anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, financial pressures, loss of identity, lack of structure in daily life, illness, and death of a spouse or loved one. Fortunately, for the vast majority of clients, learning the skills needed to thrive in the retirement years is within reach.
Retiring Well: Beyond the 401(K)
Therapy can be especially helpful during this transition period. Too few people consider the psychological adjustments that accompany this life stage, which can include coping with the loss of your career identity, replacing support networks you had through work, spending more time than ever before with your spouse and finding new and engaging ways to stay active. I like to work with clients on “retiring well.” By this, I mean, helping the client to identify meaningful activities and endeavors and then creating a structure to their daily life that can help them work toward that. Keeping active, building or sustaining a strong support group is also vital to contentment. Through therapy, I can guide clients in building a meaningful life and routine. Planning ahead can assist clients in reducing symptoms of depression, anxiety, managing loss, repairing relationships, increasing activity level and social engagement.