COGNITIVE PSYCHOTHERAPY AND DEPRESSION IN THE ELDERLY - AN INTERVENTION MODEL IN GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY

Psychological treatment of depression in the elderly has recently bene fited from the development of the cognitive approach. In particular, c ognitive psychotherapy seems well adapted to and accepted by older peo ple. In this article, we attempt to show the course of this type of ps ychotherapy in the case of a 79 year-old depressive woman in our Cogni tive Therapy Unit for Elderly. We emphasize the therapeutical setting and the content of the sessions, the techniques used, the changes that occurred, and finally, the therapeutic alliance is described. Althoug h some negative views about psychotherapy with older people are not to tally abandoned, this vignette is a good illustration of the benefits for the patient and the highly enriching work for the therapist.