ABSTRACT
Psychotherapy should not be ignored as a treatment option in the elderly and there is a growing interest in this field. Individual or group psychotherapy is most effective in the treatment of depression in elderly patients if combined with antidepressant therapy. The goals of therapy should be explicit, although therapists should not be too pessimistic about the capacity for change in elderly individuals. Studies have indicated that both the psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioural approaches are equally successful with the elderly, although the mechanisms of the effect of psychotherapy are not understood, and it is probably more important to match a therapist and a patient with a therapeutic model that both find acceptable. Some authors have suggested that the life review approach, in which patients are encouraged to achieve a resolution of the life cycle as a positive experience, may not be effective in the treatment of depressed patients who may see their lives in a very negative light.
