Current status of psychotherapy for mental disorders in the elderly

Research on psychotherapy for older adults with psychiatric disorders has demonstrated its effectiveness, although the majority of research has been conducted on major depression. Recent advances in extending this research to additional diagnostic categories and treatment settings are reviewed. Psychotherapy appears promising in the treatment of minor depression, dysthymia, anxiety disorders, depression with comorbid personality disorders, depression with comorbid cognitive impairment, and as an adjunctive treatment in psychotic disorders. Psychotherapy also has been successfully transported to the primary care setting, and shows potential in long-term care and in-home settings. Many of these studies are preliminary, however; additional research is needed with larger, more diverse samples across a variety of psychiatric diagnoses and treatment settings.