In this episode, Dr. Patricia Bamonti and I talk about clinical issues we have encountered when providing psychotherapy in an outpatient geriatric mental health setting.
Patricia Bamonti, PhD, is a licensed clinical geropsychologist who specializes in providing psychotherapy to older adults and caregivers in an outpatient geriatric mental health setting. She earned a degree in clinical psychology, focusing in geropsychology, at West Virginia University, and then she went on to complete an internship and fellowship with a geropsychology emphasis at the Milwaukee VA Medical Center. Dr. Bamonti's research interests are depression and suicide in late life and coping with chronic medical conditions and adapting to related functional impairment. Currently, she serves as the Secretary for the Council of Professional Geropsychology Training programs and Social Media Overseer for the Society of Clinical Geropsychology, which is APA Division 12 Section II. She is active in training future geropsychologists, providing clinical supervision to trainees at the practicum, internship, and fellowship levels.
Learning Objectives:
At the conclusion of this episode, listeners will be able to:
1. Discuss to how conceptualize and address issues related to transference or patient-therapist boundaries in the context of age differences between the therapist and patient.
2. List modification strategies and one tool to use when providing psychotherapy to older adults who have cognitive impairment.
3. Identify ways in which ageism impacts mental health and treatment for older adults.
4. Discuss factors to consider when thinking about using a trauma-focused treatment.
5. Describe how to orient an older adult patient to mental health treatment.
For resources on clinical issues in outpatient psychotherapy with older adults, visit GeroCentral’s webpage “Psychotherapy for Older Adults” in the Clinical Toolbox: https://gerocentral.org/clinical-toolbox/psychotherapy-for-older-adults/