DEVELOPMENTAL FACTORS

Contact Information:

Julia Cook – Julia.cook@dwmh.nhs.uk

Attachment and temperament

REFERENCES

Neurodevelopment Social/environmental

LIFE EVENTS

Born

Parental financial hardship

Parent finds it difficult to cope

Bullied at school Diagnosed with e.g. depression

Struggle at college

Good relationship with

teachers Gain employment;

meets partner Takes up hobbies;

resilience increases

Bereavement

Inpatient mental health admission; begins recovery

Arthritis; ability to cope

decreases

Loss of role; increase in mental health symptoms

PRESENTATIONS RESOURCES

THERAPEUTIC APPROACHES

Integrative

Systemic

Psychodynamic

Cognitive

/behavioural

Humanistic

Humanistic therapies Models drawn upon in older adult psychology services in DWMH include: • Person-centred therapy, gestalt therapy, existential therapy Adopts a holistic approach to human existence, paying special attention to concepts such as free will, creativity and human potential. Primarily concerned with helping people develop a stronger ‘sense of self’. Enables people to access and understand their feelings to help them derive a sense of purpose or meaning in life; ‘self actualisation’.

Cognitive behavioural therapies Models drawn upon in older adult psychology services in DWMH include: • 2nd wave: cognitive therapy, behavioural therapy, cognitive behavioural

therapy, schema focussed therapy. • 3rd wave: mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, compassion focused

therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy. Primarily concerned with changes in how you think (cognition), or your relationship with your thoughts (meta-cognition), and/or what you do (behaviour). Examines the impact of what you carry with you from your past, on your beliefs about the present/future and your actions.

Systemic therapies Models drawn upon in older adult psychology services in DWMH include: • Family therapy, narrative therapy Primarily concerned with addressing people’s distress in the context of systems or relationships, rather than on an individual level. Seeks to identify and address less helpful patterns of behaviour within groups of people i.e. couples and families. Encourages systems to develop new patterns of behaviour together. Operates on the basis that people are not problems; problems are problems.

Psychodynamic therapies Models drawn upon in older adult psychology services in DWMH include: • Interpersonal therapy, experiential dynamic therapy Primarily concerned with enabling people to experience feelings, impulses and emotions that may have been ‘hidden’, in order for them to consider the impact on their current functioning, facilitating change and ‘restructuring’.

When growing up, the person may have felt that parents were critical, rejecting, disinterested or overbearing. This might have an impact on them in their latter years; e.g. Inability to self-soothe, self critical thoughts

Transitions in older adulthood People may experience many shifts in roles by the time they reach older adult psychology services, many of which are likely to have an impact on therapy: children leaving home, retiring, grandchildren growing up, physical health problems , multiple losses, sensory or cognitive changes, becoming a carer, facing own mortality

Gilbert, P. (2010). The Compassionate Mind. Constable. Harris, R. (2008). The Happiness Trap. Robinson. Hayes, S. (2005). Get Out of Your Mind and into Your Life: The New Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. New Harbinger Publications. Jonstone, L. & Dallos, R. (2006). Formulation in Psychology and Psychotherapy: Making sense of People’s Problems. Routledge. Laidlaw, K. (2003). Cognitive Behaviour Therapy with Older People. John Wiley & Sons.

Malan, D. (1995). Individual Psychotherapy and the Science of Psychodynamics. CRC Press. Rogers, C. (2003). Client Centred Therapy. Constable. Stokes, G. (2010). And Still the Music Plays: Stories of people with Dementia. London: Hawker Publications Ltd. White, M. (2007). Maps of Narrative Practice. W. W. Norton & Company. Williams, M., Teasdale, J. & Kabat – Zinn, J. (2007). The Mindful Way through Depression. New York: Guildford Press.

Psychological Therapies with Older Adults

Considerations and Approaches