The Ageing Psychologist is a new venture and is the culmination of both my professional and personal journey.
The title is not just a play on words though it does describe me: I am a psychologist and at aged 56, I am ageing.
It marries my academic interests and research into ageing, my consultancy work for AgeUK and my clinical work which focuses often unwanted changes to identity and sense of self as we face challenges; be that an ageing body or a body changed through injury and trauma.
I’m also drawing on my own beliefs about getting old. These beliefs form part of me. They are my ‘inner ageist’: the voice in my head that has a dim view of me as I age and as I watch others age, and interact with those who are already old.
The voice is so normal I hardly hear it at times. But it’s pretty much a constant and it rarely says nice things.
The Ageing Psychologist offers an opportunity to understand and challenge the inner ageist, using evidence and theories from psychology so that we can more cheerfully navigate an identity as an older ageing person.
