Lee Kehoe

This week’s entry involves my thoughts and aspect of working with older adult clients that I have found to be incredibly important to gaining a comprehensive picture and providing the best possible treatment for each individual. As I’ve gained more experience working with older adults, I’ve also gained a wealth of knowledge into the world of pharmacology. As a counselor it is imperative to have some background into the numerous psychotropics that are used so widely in today’s world; however, as a counselor working with older adults, I have also become familiar with medications that target just about every human function. It is important to note that my growing familiarity still leaves me far from an expert in pharmacology, rather my familiarity has driven my curiosity and in addition led to some concerning questions regarding the use of certain medications in older adults. I do believe the prescription of various medications to older adults is out of a desire to best maintain or improve their health and well being; however, in hearing stories from the families of some of my older adult clients and reading literature on such medications, I find myself feeling as though the relationship between the use of pharmaceuticals and older adults needs some large modifications and improvements.

In focusing on counseling the older adult population, I may bring up the word personhood in many of my blogs. The concept of personhood has grown to be near to my heart and forever evolving as I grow as a counselor working with older adults. My exploration of personhood was the focus of my master’s thesis, and the model of the development of personhood and the loss of personhood in old age that I present later in this blog is what came from my thesis work.

In starting this new blogging endeavor, I thought it would be best to provide a brief summary of my background and passions as a counselor. I recently completed my masters in mental health counseling this past May and am now pursuing my passion of counseling the senior population. My interest in working with older adults grew from a combination of experiences with my family, as well as my undergraduate and graduate work.

Tortoises are slow and steady, each step made with great intention. Not too dissimilar to the counseling process. For Catheryn Robinson, that’s a good thing.

When working with juvenile sex offenders, professionals may feel that the treatment protocol should vary from traditional treatment methods. While there is the offense-specific component that needs to be addressed, overall youth who have committed sexual offenses respond well to the same treatment as other adjudicated youth.