Preliminarily findings from experimental and survey research suggests that psychotherapy with older adults is an area of practice in which psychotherapists do not feel positive and confident. This qualitative study is the first to explore how young psychotherapists experience and perceive their therapeutic work with older patients. To do so, we provide an in-depth perspective of how young (aged 27-35) psychotherapists experience providing psychotherapeutic treatment for older patients (aged over 65). Semistructured interviews were conducted with 20 psychotherapists in training (14 women, six men). They were recruited via psychotherapeutic training institutions and geropsychiatry clinics in Germany. The grounded theory approach was used to analyze the data. We found that the participants had various attitudes toward older adults (respectful/admiring, caring/supportive, doubtful, and open) that were related to individual social and biographic experiences with older adults. The participants' attitudes and personal experiences were also found again in their reported therapeutic behavior toward older patients. The finding further showed that the treatment setting (inpatient vs. outpatient) had an additional impact on the participants' perception of and therapeutic behavior toward older patients. Our findings demonstrated that the participants experienced various challenges and particularities when working with older patients. Young psychotherapists who work with older patients should be supported by psychotherapeutic training institutions through supervision and guidance on how to deal with clinical challenges. Furthermore, it can be valuable for young psychotherapists to critically reflect their attitudes toward older adults and personal motives for their therapeutic behavior toward older patients. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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年轻的心理治疗师如何与老年患者一起工作。

实验和调查研究的初步结果表明，老年人的心理治疗是一个心理治疗师不会感到积极和自信的实践领域。这项定性研究是第一个探索年轻心理治疗师如何体验和感知他们对老年患者的治疗工作的研究。为此，我们深入了解年轻（27-35 岁）心理治疗师如何为老年患者（65 岁以上）提供心理治疗。对 20 名接受培训的心理治疗师（14 名女性，6 名男性）进行了半结构化访谈。他们是通过德国的心理治疗培训机构和老年精神病学诊所招募的。扎根理论方法用于分析数据。我们发现参与者对老年人有不同的态度（尊重/钦佩、关心/支持、怀疑和开放），这些态度与个人与老年人的社交和传记经历有关。参与者的态度和个人经历也再次出现在他们报告的对老年患者的治疗行为中。该发现进一步表明，治疗环境（住院患者与门诊患者）对参与者对老年患者的感知和治疗行为有额外的影响。我们的研究结果表明，参与者在与老年患者一起工作时遇到了各种挑战和特殊性。与老年患者一起工作的年轻心理治疗师应得到心理治疗培训机构的支持，通过监督和指导如何应对临床挑战。此外，对于年轻的心理治疗师来说，批判性地反映他们对老年人的态度以及他们对老年患者的治疗行为的个人动机是很有价值的。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2022 APA，保留所有权利）。