Blooming in December

The Academic Events Committee Presents A Wrinkle In Time
A Series that will Consider both the Psychic Challenges and Opportunities for Generativity and Transformation in Later Stages of Life

Presenter: Amy Schaffer, PhD

Live on Zoom!

2 CE Hours available for
NY Practitioners – LCSWs, LMSWs, LPs, LMFTs, LMHCs, LCATs, PHDs, PSYDs
CT Practitioners – LCSWs, LMSWs, LMFTs, LPCs and Licensed Psychologists
This Event is also Approved for Cultural Competency in Connecticut

Although our field has largely neglected this population, psychodynamic treatment of older adults can be extremely effective, not only relieving suffering but leading to striking psychological change and more fulfilling lives. Aspects of aging that we will explore include current and revived relational conflicts and trauma, later-life disruptions to self-experience, the impact of ageism, and existential concerns. After focusing on the way psychodynamic treatment of depth and meaning can help our older patients, we will turn to ourselves. How does our own entry into later life affect our psyches and our clinical practice? I’ve been interviewing therapists about this and will share what I’ve been learning. And then, let’s talk!

Amy Schaffer, PhD is the author of Blooming in December: Psychodynamic Psychotherapy with Older Adults, a publication in Routledge’s “Psychoanalysis in a New Key” series. She is affiliated with the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy as faculty, supervisor, and former director of the Training Program in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy and she currently serves on the Executive Board of NYSPA’s Division of Adult Aging and Development. She has treated older adults for over 50 years.