[Psychotherapy in geriatrics]

Psychotherapy in geriatrics is a necessary and a rewarding task of the doctor. Some advice may be given here resulting from many years of experience with psychosomatic patients suffering from organic or functional diseases, consulting mostly general practitioners and internists. In hospital as well as in a general practice there are many possibilities of psychotherapy especially for the elderly and aged people. Diagnostic and therapeutic talks, conflict-centered, supportive therapy, autogenous training, depth-psychologically oriented individual and group therapy are important means of therapy in the old age. Other successful therapeutic procedures are behaviour therapy, family therapy and Guided Affective Imagery.