Holding on to the Ethics of Collaborative Practice: Working with the Elderly in Contexts of Risk and Diagnosis

Presenters: Eleanor Anderson and Glenda Fredman

We work systemically as a family therapist and clinical psychologist in the inner city of London, England. People using our public services are often oppressed by pathologising discourses because they have been diagnosed with mental health problems, have been identified as having intellectual disabilities or are part of groups discriminated against because of their age, race, culture or health status. Eight years ago, a group of us working with the elderly got together because we wanted to ‘be with’ the people we work with in ways that systemic constructionist approaches make possible. Many of us felt undermined and dominated by ‘stories of impossibility’ like, “I can’t practice like this because I have no power or voice in my service”;  “I cannot use this approach because I work in a psychiatric context which follows the medical model”; “There is no time to do this in a busy under funded service”. In this presentation, we will share how we worked together to challenge these “stories of impossibility”. Informed by social constructionism and using systemic practice involving reflecting processes, we shared personal and professional memories of being with older people. We used these memories to generate practical theory: moving from our remembered experiences to emerging dilemmas and clinical questions and on towards therapeutic possibilities. We will tell stories of how our evolving approach of memory sharing enabled us to turn what touched us in our experience into developing new abilities; how we came to create resources for our practice in contexts of risk and diagnosis.

Eleanor Anderson, formerly family therapist in a mental health service for the elderly; now freelance systemic psychotherapist, consultant and trainer

Glenda Fredman, consultant clinical psychologist in systemic psychotherapy, Camden and Islington Mental Health and Social Care Foundation Trust, London, England.

Eleanor Anderson was a highly specialist systemic psychotherapist in the older adults mental health service at St. Charles Hospital in London where she pioneered systemic approaches with older adults for eleven years.  She is now semi-retired, supervises and consults to other systemic practitioners, works voluntarily with the Bereavement Network at the Peace Hospice in Watford, and enjoys grand parenting and gardening.   She is co-editor of ‘Being with Older People : A Systemic Approach’ (Karnac)

Glenda Fredman is consultant clinical psychologist in systemic psychotherapy and director of systemic training with Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust. She is tutor / trainer with KCC Foundation London, freelance trainer and author of Death Talk: Conversations with Children and Families (Karnac); Transforming Emotion: Conversations in Counselling and Psychotherapy (Whurr / Wiley) and co-editor of ‘Being with Older People: A Systemic Approach (Karnac)