Counseling Services Call: 412-687-1234; or email me
  • General counseling
  • Communicating with family
  • Guided imagery
  • Relaxation
  • Life review
  • Drug and alcholol dependency
  • Leaving a legacy
  • Redefining the self in old age
  • Health care advocacy


Viktor FranklEverything can be taken from a man but the last of the human freedoms--to choose one's attitude to any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way. When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves. There is a meaning in life.... It is available to everyone and, even more, life retains its meaning under any conditions. It remains meaningful literally up to the last moment, up to one's last breath.


Psychotherapy and Aging
What Good Can Counseling Do At My Age? 
Life's hardest challenges come at the end of life.
Elderly Woman at WIndowWe face challenges at every stage of the life cycle. Taking first steps. Learning to speak and to speak out. Shaping a personality. Finding an identity. Loving and working. Guiding the young. Letting go.

As we age, letting go becomes the hardest challenge. Letting go of strength and agility, independence and initiative. Letting go of loved ones and being part of--a couple, a family, an extended family, a community. Letting go of health and productivity and, ultimately, of life.

Often, the longer we live, the more isolated we become. Staying connected takes on new meaning. The challenge comes in a our willingness to keep "becoming." A willingness to renegotiate life's challenges. A willingness to reach out for support. A willingness to keep the "indomitable core" of who we are. A willingness to ask for what we need even to the last.

 


Local Resources

Elder Law

Depression in the Elderly

Listen to a podcast on Depression in Older People
from the Medical University of South Carolina

Depression in the Elderly
from MedicineNet.com
Depression in the elderly is very common, although it is not a normal part of aging. Late-life depression affects about 6 million Americans age 65 and older, but only 10% receive treatment for depression. This is likely because the symptoms of depression in the elderly are often confused with the effects of multiple illnesses and the medicines used to treat them. Click the link to read more.

How to Help Someone With Depression
(For Seniors) An article from Caring.com

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Addiction and Drug Dependency in the Elderly

How to Talk to an Older Person Who Has a Problem With Alcohol or Medications an article from Hazelden