Aging Family: New Visions In Theory, Practice, And Reality

The Aging Family brings to the forefront issues that hold families together and often tear them apart. Written by distinguished authorities from several disciplines, themselves representing several generations, this book offers penetrating insight into the concerns - emotional and physical - that characterize the intergenerational family system. An important message throughout the text is that therapists must come to terms with their own resistance to dealing with later-life concerns, their own pre-conceptions about older people and the fact of their own aging. Respect, sensitivity, and awareness are the cornerstones of this book. They hold the key to optimizing the potential for well-being across generations. Whether the therapist is called upon to intervene on behalf of elder members to deal with such issues as depression, or to step in when younger members are trying to determine how best to provide eldercare, the perspectives presented in The Aging Family will both inform and enrich the strategies used.