A GoodTherapy.org News Headline

When examining modern ideas about the process of aging in terms of female beauty, people are likely to find a rather dichotomized set of camps. Some posit that women should embrace the process, allowing themselves to find new ways to look and feel beautiful. Others focus on the availability of advanced treatments and steps that can be taken to minimize the signs of aging. These issues are central to a new book published by a pair of mental health professionals who were once models themselves. Discussing the psychological impact that feelings about aging can have on women, the work promotes the use of counseling and other services in tandem or instead of a reliance on specialty products.

© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Dallas Bureau - All Rights Reserved.

By John Sovec, LMFT, LGBT Issues (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) Topic Expert Contributor

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Take a look at any magazine targeting the gay male market and what will you find on the cover? You will find eternally youthful sultry men with perfectly sculpted, hairless bodies who owe as much to the industry’s photo retouchers as they do to their personal trainers. Looking at these glaring moody images, it seems that these models’ only care is to remind you how unattainable they are. Turn the pages and look deeper into those magazines and you will find page after page of the same, from the ads to the editorial, it is easy to see how what is referred to as mainstream gay culture is obsessed with youth. The message is that in order to take your much-coveted place in the heart of the gay scene, you should be hot, you should be fit, but most of all, you must be young. This is what you should aspire to. Deviation is not encouraged. Read the rest of this entry

A GoodTherapy.org News Summary

Depression affects a significant number of senior citizens, and can become a debilitating problem as desire to socialize and spend time participating in favorite activities or obtain adequate exposure to sunlight may wane. Helping seniors take control of their symptoms through a number of treatments, especially psychotherapy, has been a major goal for health professionals in many fields for some time, and the suggestion that the elderly take advantage of the psychological benefits of exercise has become especially prominent. Yet summoning the motivation and energy to start and maintain a personal exercise program can be difficult –especially for people grappling with thoughts and feelings of depression. In light of this challenge, recent research performed at the Sam and Rose Stein Institute for Research on Aging at the San Diego campus of the University of California has uncovered a potential breakthrough for improving the psychological well-being of the elderly.

The study involved a small group of seniors, some of whom were indicated as having symptoms of Subsyndromal Depression, or SSD. The participants were introduced to so-called “exergames,” which involved playing exercise-oriented video games on a Nintendo Wii unit. Games included tennis, bowling, and other familiar activities, and engaged participants by requiring them to use a wireless remote to mimic the movements of the chosen activity. Many participants reported enjoying the games, and the affects on SSD symptoms were dramatic. Over a third of the seniors had at least a fifty percent reduction of their measured symptoms of depression after engaging in fairly short sessions three times per week. Read the rest of this entry

© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Columbia Bureau - All Rights Reserved.

A GoodTherapy.org News Headline

Many people who seem to be enjoying their later years offer anecdotes and wisdom suggesting that how old one feels is as important –if not moreso– than their physical age. A team from the Purdue University Center on Aging and Life Course recently explored this conventional idea with a long-term study aimed at discerning whether subjective age was really a factor in the aging process. The study found, over a ten-year period, that those who reported feeling younger than they actually were enjoyed a greater sense of well-being and personal ability than those who felt as old or older than their birth certificates declared. The work may have important implications for therapists working with elderly clients.

© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Fort Collins Bureau - All Rights Reserved.

By Paul Cohen, LCSW, Aging & Geriatric Issues Topic Expert Contributor

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In my experience with psychotherapy with the elderly client in family settings, I’ve found that the ability to facilitate a sustaining positive outcome after long-standing family dysfunction involves two main factors: 1) the client’s emotional constitution (i.e. their ability to accept the fact that maladaptive behavior exists) and 2) the client’s willingness to take the emotional risk of making amends. A third factor is the adult child’s ability to understand the parent’s life journey.

In the course of my work with a 96-year-old woman, “Lilly”, who had recently lost her third husband and her older daughter (aged 70) within six months of each other, it had become clear that I had the task of not only helping her through her bereavement, but also of trying to repair sixty-plus years of undischarged feelings of shame, embarrassment and guilt. These feelings had resulted from the years of routine abuse – mostly emotional but periodically physical – that she had inflicted on her younger 66-year-old-daughter, “Dina”. (The actual names of mother and daughter have been changed.) Read the rest of this entry