Handbook of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies with Older Adults

The purpose of this book is to disseminate 'best practice' models of treatment for the common mental health problems of late life, so that evidence-based practice will become the norm (rather than the exception) when working clinically with older adults. Each chapter contains reviews of the empirical literature focusing on studies conducted with elders; then they emphasize how CBT can be applied most effectively to that specific patient population. Case studies illuminate practice recommendations, and issues of diversity are likewise highlighted whenever possible.


Dr. Dolores Gallagher Thompson is Professor of Research in the Dept. of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine. She has been both a funded clinical researcher and a practicing geropsychologist for over 20 years, focusing her work on intervention research. In the past decade she has devoted more time to understanding the unique problems faced by ethnically and culturally diverse family caregivers, and has developed intervention programs tailored to their needs. In addition, she was one of the founding members of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy and enjoys teaching graduate students 'the fundamentals' of CBT- in particular, how to implement this approach with older adults.
Dr. Ann Steffen is Associate Professor of Psychology and Director of Clinical Training at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Her teaching, research and clinical interests all focus on mental health and aging, with a particular focus on the development and evaluation of community-based interventions for dementia family caregivers.
Dr. Larry W. Thompson is currently Professor Emeritus from both Stanford University School of Medicine and the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology. He is also an active clinician/ mental health consultant to one of the local counties in northern CA where he has had the opportunity to work with bipolar patients and those with more severe mental disorders. Larry has authored a recent text on the use of CBT with bipolar individuals and is now working on a project to adapt CBT for use with depressed older adults of Asian ancestry - particularly Chinese Americans.