Looking Into Later Life: A Psychoanalytic Approach To Depression And Dementia In Old Age

Bringing alive the relevance and value of psychoanalytic concepts in supporting the core role of professionals working directly in services for people who are older, this fascinating new book will also be of interest to analysts and psychotherapists interested in old age and the application of psychoanalytic thinking in the public sector. Davenhill shares an approach that has been helpful to her as a clinical psychologist working within the NHS and as a psychoanalyst working with people coming for consultation and intensive psychoanalytic treatment in the latter part of the lifespan. It will become evident to the reader that while each chapter is different and stands in its own right, there are certain psychoanalytic concepts which appear and reappear again and again. Specifically these are the concepts of transference, counter transference and projective identification, which are the theoretical and clinical bedrock on which psychoanalytic psychotherapy rests. Each chapter offers a different lens to the reader that will broaden and deepen understanding of such core concepts and their straightforward applicability in strengthening the quality of treatment offered both within old age services and psychological therapy services for people who are older in the public sector.