ABSTRACT
One of the great rewards of psychotherapy as a profession is the fact that age is an advantage rather than a handicap. Psychotherapy is a field that values wisdom and integration, the position of elder therapist can be rewarding indeed. The integration of skill, life experience, and spirituality, however one might define it, that comes with age finds a particularly complete expression in the Elder Phase. A part of wisdom is an increased ability to recognize one's own limitations. Death is an inescapable fact of life, and during the Elder Phase this becomes an increasingly personal realization. For some Elder Phase therapists, a recognition of personal mortality is nothing new. Of course, a key issue in retirement planning is the age at which you plan to retire. The main financial issue surrounding life expectancy is that you not outlive your financial resources. It is not uncommon that therapists will have maintained permanent life insurance while their heirs are still dependent.
