Evidence-Based Counseling and Psychotherapy for an Aging Population (Practical Resources for the Mental Health Professional)

At a time when the mental health difficulties of the elderly are coming to the fore, naming and treating those problems is still toften handled as an art rather than a science. Inconsistent practices based on clinical experience and intuition rather than hard scientific evidence have been the basis on which older adults with social and emotional problems are treated. Evidence-based practices help to alleviate some of the confusion, allowing the practitioner to develop quality practice guidelines that can be applied to the client, identify appropriate literature that can be shared with the client, communicate with other professionals from a knowledge-guided frame of reference, and continue a process of self-learning that results in the best possible treatment for clients.

The book provides practitioners with a state-of-the-art compilation of evidence-based practices in the assessment and treatment of elderly clients. Focusing on the most current research and best evidence regarding assessment, diagnosis, and treatment, the volume covers difficulties including, but not limited to: social isolation/loneliness, elder abuse/neglect, depression and suicidal inclinations, anxiety disorders, substance abuse, dementias, prolonged bereavement, and the psycho-social treatment of older adults with terminal illnesses.

Because concrete research evidence is so often not used as the basis for practice, this book provides a timely guide for mental helath clinicians, social workers, psychologists, counselors, nurses and students to a research-oriented approach to serving the mental health needs of elderly adults.