By Leo Cora
Navigating life transitions can be exciting and, at the same time, challenging as one reaches the age of 50. This is because later life is often marked by substantial transitions, which can present unique physical and psychological challenges for older adults.
The half-centennial mark is a transitional age, and by understanding the impact of the changes they encounter, middle-aged and older adults can employ specific strategies to support psychological wellbeing, build resilience and maintain a positive life outlook.
Moreover, it helps these individuals to develop coping strategies and adjust to their new circumstances. One way for older adults to develop resilience in navigating life transitions is through mental health counseling. With their specialized knowledge, skills and experience, mental health counselors can help older adults manage stress by changing self-defeating behaviors and navigating emotional and physical challenges.
Assist with retirement adjustment
After decades of working and saving, retirement is finally on the horizon. However, if you plan on retiring in the next decade or so, planning ahead is essential for experiencing the retirement you have envisioned.
Many individuals spend years picturing their ideal retirement, yet it’s not unusual to overlook the psychological effect of retiring from work. On the surface, escaping the rat race, workplace politics and long commutes seems great, but many new retirees find that the novelty of a permanent vacation begins to lose its charm after a few months.
According to the National Library of Medicine, older adults who have retired are more likely to experience depression compared to those who are still working. This is because retiring can result in older adults missing the sense of identity, purpose and meaning that came with the job, the social component of having co-workers, and the structure it gave their days. Rather than feeling fulfilled, relaxed and free, older adults may feel isolated, aimless and depressed as they head for retirement.
By speaking with a mental health counselor, older adults can establish realistic retirement goals and work toward creating a satisfying retirement life. There are several ways for mental health counselors to provide support to older adults preparing for retirement.
Establish realistic retirement goals
Developing realistic expectations about retirement is an essential step to creating meaningful retirement goals. Depending on the circumstances, mental health counselors can offer comprehensive counseling so that individuals who are about to retire can adjust to life after work and develop new social routines that will replace their existing ones.
Address new challenges
Mental health counselors can work with older adults to determine and address any emotional, relational and behavioral challenges that may occur during the retirement process. This includes addressing concerns related to family dynamics and social connections. By addressing these challenges, older adults can combat feelings of alienation and take charge of their wellbeing.
Build social connections
Older adults should be encouraged to explore new opportunities for social engagement to maintain a sense of community and support after retirement. This can be helping them rekindle lost interests or encouraging them to join social clubs or volunteer to provide a renewed sense of purpose.
Deal with chronic health challenges
Adults who are over 50 years of age make up a significant amount of the American population. A recent census reveals that the older population (individuals age 65 or over) reached over 55 million, or more than 15% of US citizens in 2020. While global aging is a positive consequence of social, economic, and medical advancements over diseases, it also poses distinct challenges and opportunities for the social and healthcare systems.
As per the National Council of Aging, more than 90% of older American adults suffer from chronic severe conditions such as diabetes, arthritis, and heart disease. Mental health counselors are well-equipped to provide holistic support to older adults dealing with health issues.
This allows them to address the emotional and practical components of different health situations. Often, older adults suffering from health and chronic conditions also deal with emotional challenges. Contrary to popular belief, emotions have energy that pushes up for expression, and the mind and body use innovative techniques such as breathing and muscular constriction to tamp them down.
According to a Time magazine report, emotional stress from blocked emotions has been connected to physical health issues such as autoimmune disorders, insomnia, headaches, intestinal problems and heart disease. Mental health counselors can help older adults to acknowledge the power of emotions and develop coping strategies when dealing with health challenges. Below, we look at several effective coping strategies that mental health counselors implement.
Emotion-focused coping
Mental health counselors use this strategy to help older adults address emotions head-on. This can include mindfulness and meditation so that they can acknowledge their feelings without judgment and live in the moment. Counselors can also suggest journaling to provide older adults with a safe space for emotional release.
Problem-focused coping
Implementing problem-focused coping can make it easier for older adults to break down challenges into smaller and manageable steps. This way, individuals can develop skills to navigate obstacles and take control of their situations instead of feeling overwhelmed.
Individual-focused coping
Personalized coping strategies allow individuals to tap into their own personal strengths when dealing with difficult situations. By tailoring coping strategies, mental health counselors can help alleviate stress and promote positive psychological outcomes.
Tackle empty nest syndrome
As you head toward retirement, your children leave home to go to college, work or even start their families. While escaping the rat race can provide relief and excitement, it can also elicit a profound sense of loss and uncertainty.
According to the National Institutes of Health, the prevalence of depression among urban and rural empty nesters rose to nearly 40% in 2023. The study adds that factors such as social support, marital status, income and chronic illness contributed to depression among these empty nesters.
Mental health counselors empower older adults in navigating the challenges of empty nest syndrome by providing support, strategies and guidance that promote emotional wellbeing and resilience. This includes offering advice for strengthening spousal relationships and supporting older adults in building new or nurturing existing friendships to maintain connections outside the family unit.
Alternatively, mental health counselors can provide family therapy to make it easier for older adults and their children to adjust to the new circumstances. Through family therapy, mental health counselors can provide a safe space for older adults to express their fears, anxieties and grief.
When older adults can express their concerns more freely, mental health counselors can develop innovative strategies to help them deal with the loneliness and sadness that come with living alone. Doing so reduces misunderstandings in family dynamics and empowers seniors to maintain and strengthen the bonds with their loved ones when they head for retirement.
Navigate financial concerns
Financial anxiety is a significant issue among older adults as they encounter difficult hurdles in handling their monetary assets during retirement. With overpriced medications and debt, older adults deal with the challenges of building a retirement fund that will help them pay the bills when they are no longer working.
For many people, getting their finances in order involves working with a financial adviser trained to help them establish realistic financial objectives and implement plans to achieve them. As older adults often experience financial-related stress and anxiety as a result of the challenges mentioned above, they may also need assistance to change their thinking and behavior about money.
While mental health counselors cannot provide monetary contributions to ease the financial burden of older adults, they can offer financial therapy aimed at helping older adults deal with financial difficulties. Financial therapy involves integrative work on the behavioral, emotional, economic, relational, and cognitive issues that older adults deal with to improve their financial literacy and money management.
While there is no one-size-fits-all financial therapy approach, mental health counselors apply evidence-based practices and interventions to help older adults repair financial issues and establish monetary security. Using the following steps, counselors can help older adults address financial weaknesses and understand how finances can impact their cognitive health.
Recognize problematic financial behaviors
Mental health counselors help older adults identify problematic financial behaviors and how their experiences and relationships led to the development of these habits. For example, if an individual suffers from gambling addiction, a mental health counselor will conduct comprehensive therapy sessions to determine the crux of the issue and address it accordingly.
Provide financial advice
A significant reason contributing to the struggle of older adults in overcoming unhealthy financial practices is that financial planners cannot diagnose or treat the emotional and psychological reasons for bad money management. Mental health counselors can apply evidence-based techniques to help clients evaluate their spending and saving habits. By providing older adults with sound financial advice, mental health counselors can reduce their feelings of anxiety, fear, guilt and shame toward money while improving their decision-making skills.
Develop strategies to improve situations
Mental health counselors can work with older adults to help them develop healthier beliefs and behaviors toward their finances. This ensures that older adults are better equipped to put their finances in order and reduce financial stress.
Understand relationship changes
Multiple changes in key relationships occur at different life phases, but it can be particularly challenging as you reach the age of 50. As an older adult, you will face several relationship dynamics as your partner ages and your children start their families.
Although each relationship is unique, there are specific components that permeate all bonds. By working with a mental health counselor, older adults can become more self-aware of the necessary and natural changes of these relationships.
Once you understand the foundational components of your existing relationships, you can manage relationships with your children, friends, relatives, and neighbors more effectively and develop more fulfilling bonds. Doing so allows you to meet your social goals extensively and gain support against the inherent process of aging.
A recent survey reveals that over one in three older American adults reported feeling a lack of companionship. It adds that roughly a quarter of Americans aged 65 and older are socially isolated. What makes this quite alarming is that social isolation is connected to poor memory, behavioral decline, and higher mortality rates among older adults.
By understanding relationship changes, older adults can find ways to stay connected with others to boost their mood and improve their overall wellbeing. Moreover, mental health counselors can also provide older adults with counseling and other resources to deepen their existing relationships with their partners and communicate more effectively.
Providing care and compassion
Building up the courage to ask for help is never easy and could arguably be recognized as even harder for older adults. With preconceptions relating to age and social status, reaching out to someone about mental wellbeing can be a challenge of its own. This only emphasizes the importance of mental health counselors establishing trusting, caring and compassionate relationships with patients over 50, as issues addressed can be quite layered and complex in nature.
The development of strong interpersonal skills, such as good communication, awareness, and active listening, are all crucial to the training of future mental health counselors. Programs from accredited schools, such as the MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from American International College, have made the development of soft skills a primary focus. This online course includes placement services to gain crucial hands-on experience, allowing future professionals to develop these essential skills within varying work environments for mental health counselors.
Working with a mental health counselor to help navigate life transitions
Achieving healthy aging is a holistic process, the nature of which differs greatly from one individual to the next. It is, however, worth noting that healthy aging is not about trying to look like a 20-something. It’s arguably more about living your life to the fullest and facing new challenges as natural changes occur. By working with a mental health counselor, the stress and anxiety of heading toward retirement, dealing with financial issues and potential health problems can be addressed and dealt with in a proactive way.
