eiseEducation

What do we know about attachment in later life? Emerging research offers important insights for older adults and those who support them. This webinar begins by examining developmental pathways in later adulthood. Many older adults show increasing attachment security—reduced avoidance or anxiety—and experience greater meaning in life. For others, later-life challenges such as dementia, chronic illness, or disability interact with attachment patterns, influencing self-regulation, self-soothing, intimacy, and empathy. These four areas of clinical risk will be explored.

The webinar then considers attachment within shifting interpersonal networks. Changes in partnered status—coupled, widowed, or single—and evolving family and friendship structures influence autonomy and connectedness. Multicultural attitudes toward ageing and care will also be highlighted.

Finally, the webinar addresses cognitive decline and its relationship with attachment. While some decline in working and short-term memory is expected from the 50s onward, distinguishing normative changes from early signs of dementia is essential. Recent research shows how dementia may evoke ‘regressive attachment desires,’ intensifying distress, particularly in contexts of dependence or past abuse. The session concludes by integrating these themes to support expanded assessment, formulation, and counselling skills for clinicians working with older adults, family carers, and aged-care contexts.