"It's Not How Old You Are, It's How You Are Old": Australian Clinical Psychologists' Experiences of Working With Older Adults

As older adults become a growing client base, all psychologists will need to prepare to work effectively with them. Those unfamiliar with geropsychology may be able to bolster their knowledge and confidence by accessing the clinical insight of psychologists who have increased exposure to this client group. Thus, this qualitative study explored Australian clinical psychologists' experiences of working with older adults. Participants were 13 clinical psychologists ranging in age from early 30s to late 60s. They worked in various private and public settings and reported familiarity with working with older adults as per predefined criteria (on average, having at least 25% of clients who were aged 65+ and having delivered psychological interventions to this client group for approximately 2 years or more). Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted and data were subsequently analyzed using thematic analysis. Three overarching themes were identified regarding commencing psychotherapy (e.g., assessing older adults' suitability for psychotherapy), practices in psychotherapy (e.g., using wisdom as a therapeutic tool), and more personal matters for psychologists (e.g., managing ethical issues and reflection of personal values). The findings overall highlight that variations to the structure or content of psychotherapy may sometimes be necessary according to older adults' life experience, their experience of aging. and their broader environmental context. Therefore, to work effectively with older adults, psychologists must be prepared to skillfully apply knowledge about aging to their psychological practice.