“On the contribution of individual psychology to psychological issues in older adults”

Abstract

The growing aging population has highlighted new clinical, psychological, and social challenges in caring for the elderly, requiring an increasingly integrated approach. The loss of social role, cultural gerontophobia, and anxiety related to death have fostered the development of psychogeriatrics and the application of psychotherapy even in advanced age. Traditionally excluded from psychodynamic therapies due to presumed mental rigidity and poor planning skills, older people have instead proved capable of introspection and change when supported by empathetic therapeutic relationships and “encouraging” strategies. The study presents three clinical cases followed with an Adlerian approach, highlighting phobic and depressive problems linked to trauma, bereavement, and retirement. Analysis of Rorschach tests shows good intellectual potential and residual creativity despite the rigidity of lifestyle. Psychotherapy has promoted a recovery of the creative self, the reworking of painful experiences, and a renewed interest in relationships and activities. The rigidity of the family environment and self-marginalization represent significant obstacles, more so than chronological age. The therapeutic intervention aims not only at symptomatic resolution but also at the construction of a new existential meaning