Contextual Adult Life Span Theory for Adapting Psychotherapy with Older Adults

Our aging population is growing in size and diversity. To integrate different views on aging and make explicit the role of culture as a contextual factor, we modified Knight’s (Psychotherapy with older adults, 2004) Contextual, Cohort-based, Maturity, Specific Challenge (CCMSC) model of psychotherapy with older adults into the Contextual Adult Lifespan Theory for Adapting Psychotherapy (CALTAP). This article describes various components of the CALTAP, which serves as a meta-theoretical framework in guiding an integrated psychotherapy approach for the aging population. The interaction between environmental factors like cohort differences and socio-cultural contexts and individual factors such as maturation and age-related specific challenges not only shapes the experience and presentation of older adults in clinical settings, but also highlights special considerations in adapting psychotherapy for older adults.