Unheard Voice of the Aging Parent, The Conflicts and Ambivalence in Intergenerational relationships

Our purpose in writing this book is to share our clinical experiences in working with seniors and elderly patients and their adult children. The primary emphasis is on how the parent uses his or her therapy to resolve conflicts in their relationships with their middle aged children. The literature already speaks volumes about how the adult child feels and behaves during the latter years of their parents' lives, however our book represents the voice of the elderly parent, which prior to this, has gone unheard. The information in our book is not only useful to the elderly parent and adult child, but it also informs the audience of mental health professionals who treat this population.

Ball-Teplin Kaplan demonstrate that individuals and families can change their relationships even in the latter years of life. Their case studies show that using cognitive behavioral therapy, even the very old can reconcile with their loved ones. Our children do not "parent us" in our latter years. Rather, both we and they can learn from each other. We can demonstrate how to face mortality and we can learn from our children and peers to value ourselves. We are older and wiser and have much to teach others and ourselves.