Handbook of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies with Older Adults

Handbook of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies with Older Adults

Edited by Dolores Gallagher-Thompson, Ann M. Steffen, and Larry W. Thompson

The physical health of older individuals presents many complex issues for providers; equally challenging are the increasingly complicated mental health problems of older adults. Although behavioral and cognitive interventions have been successfully used for a variety of mental and psychological disorders, there is an ongoing need for professional training in applications of these strategies with older individuals.

The Handbook of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies with Older Adults brings together expert scientist practitioners and the full spectrum of cognitive and behavioral interventions to promote age-appropriate best practice.

The book enhances the professional’s understanding of the learning and self regulating capacities of older adults. Its consistent and easy-access format features empirical reviews, recommended cognitive and behavioral interventions specific to the problem, instructive case studies, and salient diversity issues. In their choice of topics, the editors have assembled the Handbook to fit the unique challenges of both older individuals and the practitioners working with them. Topics covered include:

• Common conditions, including depression, anxiety, insomnia, and pain syndromes
• Severe mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, dementia
• Grief and loss, family caregiving, suicidality
• Underserved populations, including ethnically and culturally diverse individuals
• Emerging areas of mental illness management, and effects of Medicare on practice

This is important information for use by frontline mental health professionals, including clinical psychologists, geropsychiatrists, gerontological nurses, clinical social workers, occupational therapists, and marriage and family therapists. The Handbook is also suited to graduate and advanced courses in these professions. Reflecting a rapidly developing field, this resource will open up new areas of research and inspire the next wave of treatments tailored to this rapidly expanding population.

Dr. Dolores Gallagher Thompson is Professor of Research in the Dept. of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine. She has been both a funded clinical researcher and a practicing geropsychologist for over 20 years, focusing her work on intervention research. In the past decade she has devoted more time to understanding the unique problems faced by ethnically and culturally diverse family caregivers, and has developed intervention programs tailored to their needs. In addition, she was one of the founding members of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy and enjoys teaching graduate students "the fundamentals" of CBT- in particular, how to implement this approach with older adults.

Dr. Ann Steffen is Associate Professor of Psychology and Director of Clinical Training at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Her teaching, research and clinical interests all focus on mental health and aging, with a particular focus on the development and evaluation of community-based interventions for dementia family caregivers.

Dr. Larry W. Thompson is currently Professor Emeritus from both Stanford University School of Medicine and the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology. He is also an active clinician/ mental health consultant to one of the local counties in northern CA where he has had the opportunity to work with bipolar patients and those with more severe mental disorders. Larry has authored a recent text on the use of CBT with bipolar individuals and is now working on a project to adapt CBT for use with depressed older adults of Asian ancestry – particularly Chinese Americans.

From the reviews:

"The book is geared for mental health professionals, including clinical psychologists, geriatric psychiatrists, gerontological nurses, clinical social workers, occupational therapists, and marriage and family therapists as well as students in graduate and advanced courses in these fields. … This excellent book deals with a broad range of disorders, both physical and psychological, covering different cognitive-behavioral therapy options backed by research. … is a good starting point for learning about treatment of older adults." (Gary B Kaniuk, Doody’s Review Service, August, 2008)

“Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies with Older Adults will therefore be welcomed by those with an interest in this growing field. … Each chapter follows a broadly similar structure and helpfully includes a case study. Assessment is focused on extensively and at times seems to be at the expense of detail regarding the therapy. Whilst primarily a book for practicing CBT therapists, it is potentially an invaluable reference for any professional working with older adults.” (Ceri Evans, International Psychogeriatrics, Vol. 21 (3), 2009)