Bob G. Knight, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology and Counselling at USQ Toowoomba. He is also the editor of the Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences. Prior to May, 2015, for 28 years he was on the faculty of the University Of Southern California School Of Gerontology, a world leader in the study of ageing. He also has a small private practice focusing on older adults in Toowoomba.

He has published extensively in mental health and aging, including Psychotherapy with older adults (Sage, 3rd ed. 2004, available in French, Dutch, Japanese and Chinese translations). He co-authored with Nancy Pachana, Ph.D. (University of Queensland) Psychological assessment and therapy with older adults Oxford University Press (2015). His writing on psychotherapy with older adults includes development of the Contextual Adult Life Span Theory for Adapting Psychotherapy (CALTAP), which applies life span developmental principles to therapy with older adults.

Dr. Knight received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Indiana University, Bloomington, IN. His professional experience in working with older adults began while working at the Urban League of Madison County (IN) where he organized and served as first president of the Madison County Council on Aging in 1973.

Presentation Title: Is psychotherapy with older adults different?

Abstract:

The question of whether and how psychotherapy differs with older adult clients has been a key issue for several decades.  Dr Knight uses his Contextual Adult Lifespan Theory for Adapting Psychotherapy (CALTAP) to bring findings and principles from life span developmental psychology and scientific gerontology to bear on this question. In general, the answer is that psychotherapy with older adults can be quite different, but mostly for reasons other than age as a marker of where the client is in the life cycle. He also explores ways to use the CALTAP model to help older adults understand their own aging and overcome internalized ageism.