Spirituality, Counseling, and Elderly: An Introduction to the Spiritual Life Review

Older adults comprise one of the fastest growing demographic groups in the United States today, and are also described as the most spiritual and religious of all the age groups. Although older adults have historically underutilized counseling services, this may soon change as a result of the increase of older adults seeking services and changing attitudes toward therapy. The spiritual life review is a modification of the life review—an efficacious and commonly used counseling technique with older adults, and is suggested as one way to increase service utilization and promote healthy development among spiritual older adults. A description of the spiritual life review is given, along with a case study to provide preliminary evidence for this technique's utility. The limitations and ethical concerns associated with the spiritual life review are also discussed.