Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy for older people has thrived despite the now famous
statement by Sigmund Freud that older people are not amenable to
psychoanalysis. He considered anyone over the age of 50 years as lacking
“the elasticity of the mental processes on which treatment depends... old
people are not educatable” (Freud, 1905). Thankfully, such overt ageism
has largely been overcome, and psychotherapy is offered to older people
and their carers. Psychotherapy covers the whole range of psychiatric
problems, from adjustment disorders to Alzheimer’s disease (see Box 17.2).