GROUP‐ANALYTIC PSYCHOTHERAPY WITH THE ELDERLY

Abstract

ABSTRACT Orthodox psychoanalysis offered the view that mental processes in the elderly are too rigidly established for favourable treatment results. Group psychotherapy with the elderly in general has received little attention, mostly concentrating on inpatient groups. The main focus has been on supportive techniques, often in institutional settings. Two of the authors (Maria Canete and Fiona Stormont) co‐conducted a weekly slow‐open analytic group for elderly people, in a London outpatient NHS clinic. This paper presents clinical material that illustrates some age‐specific issues, as they appear in the group process. For example, issues of competitiveness, rivalry and aggression, which are generally present in the beginning of groups with younger people, tend to be absent, or manifest themselves differently, in the elderly group. Denial of age becomes impossible, which helps these patients to accept approaching death and the process of dying itself. Psychoanalytic group psychotherapy can be especially indicated for this age population.