Working Meaningfully With Older Adults in Psychotherapy: Memory, Autobiography, Self, and the Conversational Model

Abstract

As the population of older adults increases, a growing number of older people will seek psychotherapy and counselling in the coming years. Therefore, therapists should deepen their understanding of the unique developmental challenges that accompany the later years. While varying approaches and theoretical frameworks exist for how to understand these developmental challenges and work in a way that promotes wellbeing, therapy with older adults remains an under-explored area. This paper outlines my clinical observations while working with a single man in his mid-70s who started seeing me for long-term psychotherapy. It explores the intersection of memory, autobiography, self, and ego integration and contributes to the discussion about how to work meaningfully with older adults. I hypothesise that working with our clients to compose an autobiographical consciousness that can be narrated and witnessed by an empathic other could be an important aspect of ego integration. This is because narrative is a meaning-making tool that facilitates one’s sense of self and promotes the process of reconciliation with the past and direction towards the future. This exploration is situated within the framework of the Conversational Model of psychotherapy developed by Robert Hobson and Russell Meares.