Eight different stories from the elderly capture the heart and mind as clinical psychologist Dr. Max Fuhrmann steps from behind the professional mask to impart what he has learned from his elderly psychotherapy clients. Despite his extensive training and experience in this field, he is not prepared for how these individuals change and grow before his eyes. You will be moved and made to realize that seniors have a great deal of wisdom and coping skills. After reading this book, you may not be so quick as to feel the need to make decisions for an elderly parent or grandparent. Rather, you may want to ask their advice for you. If you are a senior, you will be made to reconsider your tendency to expect less of yourself, now that you are a sagacious elder.
TOPICS
1. Transference and countertranference issues, which may arise when providing psychotherapy to the elderly.
2. Understanding the depth and complexity of the lives of the elderly and how these qualities may enhance their ability to change and grow in psychotherapy.
3. Challenging your preconceptions and expectations of the elderly in psychotherapy
GOALS
At the conclusion of this program you should be better able to:
2. Develop more strategies for your later years in how to cope with grief and potential of loss of physical and mental abilities
3. Warn the younger adults in your practice or in your personal life, not to dismiss or underestimate the wisdom of the old in problem solving
REVIEW
Qualities of a lifetime: Intelligence, Ability, and Compassion
Dr. Fuhrmann, in Sagacity: What I Learned from My Elderly Psychotherapy
Clients, provides the reader with a variety of touching and teaching
stories about life. The duality of each story is unique as the reader
explores the narrative about the patient and of the psychologist. We
get wrapped up, as Dr. Fuhrmann does, in each person’s life and with
his reaction to it. And it prompts us to take a closer look at how we
handle our own lives and relationships and how we look at and
communicate with others. I was personally moved by many of the stories,
and I share here just a few highlights. In “Indomitable,” he tells of a
woman’s sorrow over her son’s death and her shift to “accept the life
he had rather than the life she hoped he would continue to have” (6).
Having recently experienced several deaths in my own family, I was
quite affected by this shift in thinking. In “Till Death Us Do Part,”
he tells the story of George and Helen’s pact to die together, and the
struggle for Helen when George dies first. In the end, after some
counseling and a short hospital stay, Helen resumes life with renewed
interest and a mission of “sharing her image and memories of George
with the next generation” (51). Loving my husband as I do, the
sentiment of this story has passed through our conversations even as
the reality of passing alone intrudes. And while we have many years
ahead of us, I found comfort in Helen’s resolution.
SPEAKER PROFILE
Max
E. Fuhrmann, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist (#PSY 11422) with extensive practical experience in the assessment and
psychotherapeutic treatment of older adults. He received his Ph.D. from
the renowned Clinical-Aging Psychology program at USC in 1988. Since
1990, he has maintained a private practice in Thousand Oaks,
specializing in geriatrics.
Dr. Fuhrmann has administrative experience in helping to initiate
inpatient geriatric psychiatric programs at Pacific Shores Hospital in
Oxnard and Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks. In
1996, he became the second psychologist in California to be elected
President of a Medical staff. Also to his credit are publications and
over 100 presentations conducted on a national and international level
concerning mental health needs of the elderly.
Because Dr. Fuhrmann enjoys teaching and subsequent learning from his
students, he taught gerontology and psychology courses at the
California State University Northridge for 15 years. He has also taught
at the new California State University Channel Islands and is now
teaching graduate students at California Lutheran University in
Thousand Oaks. Dr. Fuhrmann’s teaching and lecture styles are held in
high regard and he is often sought out as a presenter due to his
organizational skills, tying the material into the “real world” and
encouraging audience participation. His exceptional teaching and
participant ratings earned him our Instructor of the Year award.