Geropsychology Mentoring: A Survey of Current Practices and Perceived Needs

The need for clinical geropsychologists currently exceeds the availability, and this imbalance is expected to worsen along with the impending growth in the older adult population. Effective geropsychology mentoring may be helpful in meeting this challenge. However, little is known about mentoring within clinical geropsychology. The present paper reports on a survey of mentoring practices and needs. Findings indicate that a large majority of clinical geropsychology trainees and professionals at all levels have a mentor and that the contributions mentors make are highly valued. Among the needs identified by survey respondents was guidance for effective mentoring. Results of the survey suggest that efforts to enhance mentoring within clinical geropsychology may contribute to the goal of expanding the workforce to meet future needs.