mental illness

It still amazes me when I hear about some of the stereotypes that people have about psychotherapy, especially, it seems, with older adults who have ideas about psychotherapy that come straight out of the 1950s. Fortunately, psychologists now have a number of different "tools" to use in order to facilitate change. These days, psychotherapy can range from really brief (e.g., lasting for just a few sessions) to long-term (e.g., lasting several years).

This month I successfully proposed my dissertation project to my committee (now the real work begins!). As suggested by the title, my project will investigate the way in which low feelings of belongingness and high feelings of burdensomeness interact to increase suicide ideation among older adults. The study is based on a theory developed by Thomas Joiner, PhD and his students at Florida State University.

At the end of May, I completed a practicum rotation in a long term care facility (aka nursing home). I discovered that I love working in that setting and its something that I hope to gain more experience with while I'm on internship.

In the U.S., older adults have a disproportionally high rate of completed suicide as compared to the general population, with white men over the age of 85 being at greatest risk (National Center for Health Statistics, 2007). The state of Colorado has similar trends (The Colorado Trust, 2002).