Discontent at Midlife: Issues and Considerations in Working toward Women's Weil-Being

Abstract

Although it is not apparent from the practice literature, clinical work with midlife women can differ significantly from clinical work with younger or older women. Although many women are satisfied with their lives at midlife and find these years to be the prime of life, there is a subgroup of midlife women who are not happy at this time. In this paper, factors that discriminate women who have a strong sense of well being at midlife from those who do not are presented. Treatment considerations related to five areas (disability, marital relationship, identity, self esteem, and loss) found to be problematic for women are presented. Social work practice implications are discussed in terms of the benefits of focusing on the issues of identity, connectedness to others, and spirituality.