Traditional training in counseling and psychotherapy makes minimal distinctions on the ages of the client and therapist in the treatment process. Therapy Over 50: Aging Issues in Psychotherapy and the Therapist's Life highlights how therapy is frequently a very different process for the older client and therapist. Specifically, this book explores: a) how therapists over 50 (or approaching that life transition) experience, struggle, and enjoy doing therapy in ways that are different from when they were younger (this includes their special challenges, adaptations, fears, and joys); and b) the landscape related to working clinically with aging clients, and those approaches and strategies that work best with this population. The text also includes both current research and classic literature on the subject of aging issues in therapy, as well as current excerpts from interviews the authors will conduct with some of the most notable aging figures in the fields of counseling, social work, marriage and family therapy, and clinical psychology.
Therapy Over 50 ultimately deals with the inevitable and unrelenting changes that take place along with corresponding lost and reconfigured dreams as well as the approaches and strategies that are most effective for working with this population. With an optimistic tone, Kottler and Carlson promote a philosophy of positive aging and development for the therapist and client, thereby offering hope and inspiration for both parties

Jeffrey A. Kottler, PhD, is Professor of Counseling at California State University, Fullerton and President of Empower Nepali Girls, an organization that provides educational scholarships for at-risk children in Nepal. He has served as a Fulbright Scholar and Senior Lecturer in Peru (1980) and Iceland (2000), and worked as a Visiting Professor in New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Nepal.
Jon Carlson, PsyD, EdD, is Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Counseling at Governors State University, University Park, Illinois and a Psychologist with the Wellness Clinic in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. He has received lifetime achievement awards from several professional associations, including the American Psychological Association and the American Counseling Association.

Part I -- Aging in Personal and Professional Development
1. What it Means to be Older
2. The Culture of Aging

Part II -- The Aging Therapist
3. The Senior Therapist
4. Aging Losses-and Gains
5. Tricks of the Trade: What Experience Teaches Us
6. On Wisdom and Creativity

Part III -- Aging Clients
7. Myths and Misconceptions of What It's like to be Old
8. Living in the Past
9. Common Issues and Challenges of the Elderly
Part IV -- Journeys of Wisdom and Redemption
10. Aging (is mostly) a State of Mind
11. Specialized Strategies for Working with Older Clients
12. Death Stalks Us All
13. Dreams Lost and Found
References
Index