You are likely already seeing more older adults and their families in your practice than you did five years ago. Would you like to feel more comfortable with this population? We are offering a special opportunity to enhance geropsychology competence for licensed psychologists and counselors with some practice experience but limited formal training in working with older adults. This is an opportunity to participate in a small consultation group led by a experienced, board certified geropsychologist.
What’s included?
- Six monthly 90-minute small group (up to 6 participants) video conference (e.g., HIPAA-compliant Zoom) sessions
- Each consultation session is organized around discussion of a case (participants rotate in bringing a specific case to the group); all participants share perspectives, lessons learned, and implications for their own practices with each case.
- A range of practice issues can be addressed (e.g., intake assessment, treatment planning, within-session implementation, integration of family and other care partners, legal and ethical concerns, practice management)
- Continuing education credits
This pilot program is intended to provide expert feedback and resources for addressing older adult mental health needs across care settings and presenting concerns. This collegial consultation opportunity is not clinical supervision; participants must maintain their own clinical license. Rather, this consultation group provides an opportunity to receive state-of-the-art professional consultation from board certified geropsychologists aimed to advance clinical practice with older adults.
Applicants must:
- Be an independently licensed psychologist, counselor, MFT, or social worker in the US
- Provide direct clinical service in your professional role
- Have at least three older adult clients in your regular caseload
The package of 6 consultation sessions costs $500
This pilot program was developed by a subcommittee created at the Building Bridges Conference: Generating Resources for Geropsychology Education, supported by The Council of Professional Geropsychology Training Programs (CoPGTP) and Society of Clinical Geropsychology (SCG), among many other organizations. This pilot program is being offered in partnership with The Optimal Aging Center.
Frequently Asked Questions
In support of improving patient care, Rush University Medical Center is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
Rush University Medical Center designates this live activity for 9.00 CE credits in psychology.
No other specific CE types are offered at this time. Please check with your state to see if your profession can claim APA accredited CE credits.
Note that the State of New York has not approved this program for CE.
All participants must read the Special Issue of Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice on the Foundational Knowledge Competencies in Geropsychology (Volume 29, March 2022) in its entirety as baseline knowledge. This content will be provided to learners who do not have access. Completion of the E4 Center of Excellence in Behavioral Health Disparities Foundational Competencies in Older Adult Mental Health is also accepted as baseline knowledge.
Approximately 45 minutes will be spent discussing a case-specific consultation questions posed by consultees and approximately 45 minutes will be allocated for additional case discussion. There is some flexibility to negotiate consultation focus depending on your experience, setting, and caseload.
If you discover after registering that you are not able to attend any of the sessions, we anticipate that you will be able to participate in a future group, or other arrangements may be possible.
By attending at least 5 of 6 sessions, you will be awarded a certificate of completion.
No, audio/videotape case review is not part of this consultation.
No. Consultation is live and will not be recorded for future learning.
Consultation groups will consist of up to 6 consultees and one consultant.
This program is designed for people who do not already specialize in geropsychology or have very little formal training in working with older adults. If you’re a geropsychologist and looking for a consultation group, please contact us and we’ll keep you in mind for future potential groups.
Third Mondays 10-11:30 PT / 11-12:30 MT / 12-1:30 CT / 1-2:30 ET
First Fridays 11-12:30p PST / 12-1:30 MT / 1-2:30 CT / 2-3:30 ET
You will be able to indicate your preference in the application process.
Meet the Consultants
Dr. Janet Anderson Yang, Ph.D., ABPP is a board certified clinical geropsychologist in Los Angeles, California, licensed for 30 years. She is the Clinical Director at Heritage Clinic, a mental health and adult day care center serving older adults and training graduate students in mental health fields. Her areas of expertise include psychotherapy in private practice, community mental health for persons with serious mental illness, psychotherapy with persons with psychotic mental illness and with persons with dementia, caregiver interventions, life review and reminiscence, grief and loss, enhancing meaning in later life and supervising mental health staff and trainees. She has published articles & conducted trainings on various topics related to geropsychology, and holds a private practice serving adults and older adults.
Maximilian E. Fuentes Fuhrmann, Ph.D, ABPP (geropsychology) is a licensed clinical psychologist with more than 30 years of practical experience in the assessment and psychotherapeutic treatment of older adults in a variety of treatment settings, primarily in southern California. He helped to initiate inpatient geriatric psychiatric programs and holds clinical adjunct positions in the USC School of Social Work and Department of Psychology. The latter of which involves providing clinical supervision to psychology doctoral students. Over an 18 year span, he taught gerontology and psychology courses at California State University Northridge (CSUN) California State University Channel Islands (CSUCI) and at California Lutheran University (CLU) in Thousand Oaks. He has also been a certified trainer for the National Resource Center on LGBT Aging.
Andrew Heck, Psy.D., ABPP, is a clinical psychologist and President of GeroPartners, a geriatric mental health private practice in Richmond, Virginia. He is a founding member and past-president of the American Board of Geropsychology, and holds ABPP certifications in both Geropsychology and Clinical Psychology. His particular areas of professional interest include clinical training and supervision, dementia evaluation, decision-making competency and capacity, and ethics in working with older adults.
Thank You for Your Interest
If you have any additional questions about the Consultation Groups for Psychologists
please contact Ann Choryan Bilbrey, PhD at
ann@optimalagingcenter.com