Читать книгу Helping Relationships With Older Adults - Adelle M. Williams - Страница 83

As society continues to grow older, the issues concerning the elderly increasingly become issues for the community. There are already legislative changes being made that address Social Security, medical benefits, and retirement as the government is forced to address the needs of an aging society. Just as the government has been slow to act on behalf of senior citizens, so has the counseling community. Counselors have seemingly avoided actively seeking to help the elderly, possibly because of a lack of knowledge or experience (Karel, Gatz, & Smyer, 2012). For those not specializing in gerontological counseling, counselor training in working with older adults has relied on Erikson’s final stage of development: integrity versus despair. However, developing interventions to successfully resolve this stage has not been a priority in the counseling field.