ABSTRACT
With the goal of developing a new outlook regarding the post-midlife years, it is essential to look at theories and research regarding aging. There are many voices, within the fields of medicine, gerontology and psychology, that contribute to the discussion of the aging process. This chapter explores the scholarly body of knowledge on aging from several of these perspectives. The aging process is first explored through the lens of “successful aging,” a model that leans towards the medical model. The chapter then explores aging through an existential lens that includes Erikson’s developmental theory of generativity, Frankl’s quest for meaning, and Jung’s individuation process. Jungian psychology has offered the unique perspective that individuation, becoming oneself as fully as possible, is a lifetime enterprise that requires a continual reformulation of meaning, values, purposes, and activities. As such, Jung envisioned the second half of life as a time of opportunity, in which growth and increasing degrees of wholeness and wisdom can emerge. This orientation sees life beyond the middle years as one with much promise for the individual and for society as a whole.
