Thirty-four million people are over 65 and that number will double to sixty-eight million within 25 years. This is a very different population, and therapy for this group must also be different. Therapy for seniors has to be brief and effective as quickly as possible. Many of the older members of our society just don't have the time or willingness to spend months awaiting change. Therapist will be encountering of the sixty-five plus population more often. This workshop will dispel some myths about aging and will present various brief treatment approaches used successfully with senior patients. We will include some brief approaches to treating grief and loss, coping with illness and pain and the depression which often accompanies these challenges.
BT06 Short Course 36 - Journey Through Midlife: Yours and Your Clients - Are You Ready? - Marilia Baker, MSWThe second half of life - whether you are 35, 45, 55 or 65, is a time of intense questioning. It is also a period of transition from the illusions of youth and first adulthood to the challenge and rewards of maturity. This short course addresses those challenges and provides generative ways to travel the journey. Identifying archetypal passages and developmental impasses in your clients will help you build concise, precise, and to-the-point interventions, designed to create meaning and purpose in their lives.
The emotional problems, physical impairments, financial difficulties and, especially, how does someone nearing death cope with the belief that the world has become so much less caring and altruistic than it was in much of the previous century.
Working with terminally ill patients and their families is necessarily time-limited. The effects of such work can be dramatic and lasting for both patient and survivors. This magnifies the effects of such therapy and thus underscores the importance of intervening elegantly and boldly, moving through patients' (and therapists') fear of death.
Mourning the loss of a loved one is a normal and natural progress. Unfinished business often exists which holds the individual back from healthy resolution of the loss. Lack of closure may result from a sudden death with no opportunity to say goodbye or unresolved issues. Using hypnosis, we can revisit the deceased and address unfinished business, thus facilitating a resolution and healing of the relationship and allowing the mourner to move on to recovery.
This workshop will discuss the types of losses, the characteristics of trauma and the factors determining the severity of bereavement. The connection between trauma and grief will be explored and the typical human reactions in each will be discussed. Also examined will be the cluster group of symptoms when trauma and grief are both combined and overlapping. Special attention will be given to developing comprehensive strategies to help people both in trauma mastery and grief resolution.
Alexander Lowen (2000) demonstrates with Ann, who he used as a ten years earlier. She reports that since that first session she has been free of severe asthma attacks. She is now troubled by the death of her father and mother, abuse from her brother, excessive weight gain and the onset of menopause. Lowen guides her through a series of movement exercises.
As human beings age, we are bombarded with losses: of our professions, businesses or jobs; homes; health; ideals; friends; family members and partners. This address will offer special techniques, usable in brief or long-term therapy, to help aging clients find ways to honor their losses as well as their own integrity, as they continue to grow and to savor life.
Erving Polster (1995) demonstrates with Delisa, who is troubled by her work with geriatric patients. Polster leads Delisa quickly and deeply into her own fears of death and loss. Polster jokes, confronts, and directs Delisa into a greater self-awareness. Following the demonstration Polster explains his work and addresses questions.