When I tell people that I am a geropsychologist (a psychologist who specializes in geriatrics), I usually receive one of three responses: 1) I need you to diagnose my relative, 2) Wow, that sounds really hard, or 3) I thought older people don\u2019t believe in therapy.<\/p>\n
The third response\u2014that older people don\u2019t believe in therapy\u2014is an interesting one for me, because I also believed this at the beginning of my career. As a millennial, a generation notorious for speaking openly about mental health, I assumed most of my interactions with older adults about psychotherapy would be an uphill battle. In graduate school, I had many conversations with professors about how I might create a professional relationship with an older adult client who had no interest in speaking with me or was biased against mental health treatment.<\/p>\n
Fast-forward several years, I have now worked within many settings, including short-term rehabilitation, long term care, outpatient mental health and hospice care. To my initial surprise, typically when I offer my services to an older person, I am met with openness and gratitude.<\/p>\n
More often than not, older adults are happy to have a space where they can talk about and process their challenges, joys, grief and adjustments. I think of one client in particular, a 95-year-old military veteran, who mentioned that this was the first time he\u2019d engaged in therapy. He wanted to learn coping skills to manage his anxiety. When I asked what brought him in now, he said, \u201cI figured I would try it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite my positive experiences, it\u2019s true that older adults are less likely to be in therapy than younger ones. According to the National Health Interview Survey<\/a>, in 2019 just 5.7 percent of those who were 65 or older had had counseling or therapy during the last 12 months, compared to 11.6 percent who were between 18 and 44, and 9.1 percent who were 45 to 64.<\/p>\n If older people are as open to therapy and counselling as I\u2019ve found them to be, why aren\u2019t more of them getting help? They do need it. Between 14 and 25 percent of adults over 50 in the United States are living with a mental health disorder, with the most common being depression and anxiety. Almost a quarter of deaths by suicide are among people 60 and over. Adjusting to losses, illnesses or disabilities, to being a caregiver or to other age-related stressors can be challenging without some extra emotional support.<\/p>\n Also, though it feels silly to mention, older adults do not become devoid of everyday stressors once they reach a certain age. They still may have fights with friends, worry about the future, and hope to change unhealthy behaviors.<\/p>\n