All rights reserved. Everyone needs help dealing with emotional shock at some time in their lives. For many, that time will be after the age of 60.
Older people are especially likely to have to endure the death of a spouse and of lifelong friends.
The chance to talk about their losses with a willing listener may help older people come to terms with their grief and find reasons to put it behind them. Yet the elderly are not likely to find listeners who are both trained counselors and, at the same time, able to relate personally to the special emotional difficulties the aging are likely to encounter. Peer counseling programs provide an answer to this problem in a growing number of communities. Retired themselves, and of the same generation as their clients, peer counselors bring a special understanding to the task. While it's easy for a young person to tell a recently widowed woman of 70 that she has a lot to live for, the message is more meaningful coming from a woman of the same age, who may well be a widow herself.