Counselors and the Older Worker: An Overview

Between 1980 and 2000, the number of people now 55 and older who survive to become 75 and older will increase by over 52%. Also, older people are living longer and are retaining high levels of mental and physical capacity longer. Consequently, prevailing notions about retirement and retirement age are rapidly shifting. Already mandatory retirement age has been delayed from 65 to 70 in most areas of employment. This change and continued high rates of inflation have begun increasing the interest of more older people in seeking to remain qualified to stay in their present or related jobs, or, if retired, to seek to prepare for further careers. Employment counselors, and personnel and guidance professionals generally, who have tended to focus their attention on young people preparing for their first careers face a major challenge in the years ahead in preparing themselves to meet the major and novel demands placed on them by people 55 and older who increasingly will come to them for help.     

Guided Autobiography: A Counseling Tool for Older Adults

The author describes Guided Autobiography, a course based on the life review concept, and evaluates its impact on self-concept, time competence, and purpose in life. Despite a lack of significant results on the dependent measures, informal evaluations and a follow-up study indicated that the course had resulted in some positive changes.     

Counseling Middle-Aged and Older Workers

Employment counselors can play an important role in helping mature job seekers obtain work. Case studies are cited in which applicants were assisted by the counselor in assessing their experience and abilities and relating them to the job market. Testing may be a useful tool in the assessment process. Among the types of cases discussed are retirees who want to return to work, homemakers reentering the business world, and men and women seeking a change of occupations.     

Counseling Older Adults with Dementia: A Survey of Therapists in Massachusetts

Although much has been written about therapeutic interventions with caregivers, little is known about the counseling services that are available for victims of dementia. The present study was designed to explore community mental health center (CMHC) services and therapists' experiences in providing psychotherapy to this population in Massachusetts. Only 27 of the 36 CMHCs in the state reported providing mental health services to older adults with a dementing illness. A survey of therapists who specialized in working with older adults found that the percentage of older adult clients estimated to have dementia averaged about half of their caseload. Older persons in the early phase of a dementing illness were most frequently referred for depression and anxiety, whereas those with moderate decline were most frequently referred for management of disruptive behavior. The most common services provided to clients with dementia consisted of assessment and individual counseling. The latter finding indicates a discrepancy between what is practiced and the professional literature. Most of the psychotherapy described in the literature concerns group interventions, which were rarely provided by the mental health centers in Massachusetts. The centers tended to offer individual counseling; however, little information on how to provide this form of treatment can be found.     

Counseling for Wellness With Older Adults

Resulting from the assumption that older adulthood is a time of decline, there is a dearth of research on the application of wellness counseling with older adults. This article reviews the literature on wellness and older adults, synthesizes wellness with adult development theory, and describes wellness counseling with older adults.     

Life-Flow Leisure Counseling for Older Persons

Work is a primary source of self-satisfaction and self-definition for many people during most of the years of their lives. Consequently, the loss of work and the necessary transition to leisure as the primary life activity are often difficult for older persons. Leisure counseling is a method of helping older persons find self-satisfaction in leisure and therefore better adjust to their life situations. This article presents some suggestions for effective leisure counseling with older persons.     

Genetic Counseling for Confined Placental Mosaicism: A Case Report

New technologies can lead to unforeseen discoveries which in turn can lead to diagnostic and counseling dilemmas. A case which involved confined placental mosaicism for trisomy 16 is presented to illustrate such a situation. While interpreting data and explaining a newly described phenomenon created uncertainties for the genetic counseling team, the patient and her husband were primarily dealing with grief surrounding the loss of a wanted pregnancy. It is important to recognize that the counseling issues may be different for the professionals and the families. Genetic counselors must be cognizant of their own reactions and those of their clients and be prepared to use all of their counseling skills to address these varying needs.     

Alcohol as a Response to Stress in Older Adults: A Counseling Perspective

The authors explore the relationship between stress and alcohol use in older adults. The importance for the counselor to determine the client‐specific role of alcohol use, whether as a stress buffer or as a coping mechanism, is discussed.     

Case Report: A Systems Approach to Genetic Counseling for Albinism

A systems approach to family therapy assumes that a person and his/her problems do not operate in a social vacuum but instead are imbedded in a social context. This context includes fairly small social systems such as a nuclear family and larger social systems such as school systems and cultural beliefs. A case of a girl with albinism born to a couple from India will be used to discuss how a systems approach might be useful in a genetic counseling setting.     

Counseling Older Japanese American Clients: An Overview and Observations

Older Japanese American clients bring a unique set of historical and cultural characteristics to the counseling setting. Several important aspects of providing counseling to this group are discussed, including ethical issues based on cultural differences and nontraditional approaches to counseling.     

Counseling the Disabled Older Person for the World of Work

Although work is meaningful to many older persons, numerous barriers exist that prohibit their active participation in the labor force. Employment counselors must possess a variety of attributes to help break down these barriers. This article discusses skills that the counselor needs when working with older adults and in particular with those who are disabled. Specialized approaches to job placement are discussed, including job modification and job restructuring. To become a successful advocate for the disabled elderly wishing to enter or remain in the labor market, the employment counselor is urged to become familiar with characteristics of older persons and federal laws relating to job development and placement for older and handicapped workers.     

Pastoral Counseling of Older Adults: Toward a Short-term Integrative Approach

A rapidly aging population with its mental health care needs presents an enormous challenge in the current mental health field. In light of this, pastoral counselors will have an increasingly important role to play in the care of older adults because of their strategic position in the community and their competence in dealing with religious/spiritual issues particularly salient in old age. This article proposes a short-term integrative approach to enable pastoral counselors to effectively and efficiently meet the mental health care needs of the elderly.

Bridging Psychology and Theology When Counseling Older Adults

SUMMARY

Seniors raise many questions for counselors; some of these questions directly impact what can be called spiritual concerns. Yet, finding a consistent definition of what a “spiritual concern” is has challenged all of the major counseling professions. In this paper the author calls upon the work of Paul Tillich in dialogue with that of Viktor Frankl to bridge the theological definitions of spiritual concern with psychological intervention.     

The Efficacy of Group Counseling with Older Adults

This article argues that group counseling is more conducive to coaching older adults than is the traditional one-to-one approach.     

Professional Counselors’ Interest in Counseling Older Adults

The authors surveyed professional counselors (N = 956) to examine self‐efficacy in counseling older adults, contact with older adults, and ageism as related to their interest in working with older adults. Higher self‐efficacy, contact, and positive ageism predicted increased interest. These results and implications for counseling older adults are discussed.     

Sports Counseling: A New Counseling Specialty Area

This article provides background information about sports counseling for student-athletes. A proposal for a Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs specialty training area for sports counseling is presented.