Complementary and Integrative Therapies for Mental Health and Aging

Complementary and Integrative Therapies for Mental Health and Aging provides an up-to-date overview of integrative medicine that clinicians, researchers, and caregivers will require in order to address the major mental and physical disorders of aging. The chapters herein will increase clinicians’ familiarity with the most recent research findings, and broaden their understanding of the use of these interventions in clinical practice. The discussion of the data is provided in easy-to-use format covering different fields of integrative medicine, and is written by an international group of leaders and researchers in their respective areas of expertise. This volume can be used for training by students of integrative medicine and gerontology, and individual chapters can be used as on-the-go references on a particular topic.

Putting this work into a wider context, volume editors Helen Lavretsky, Martha Sajatovic, and Charles Reynolds III also provide a necessary framework for clinicians and public policy makers to understand the necessity of pursuing complementary, alternative, and integrative medicine for aging adults.

Dr. Helen Lavretsky is a Professor of Psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, a geriatric psychiatrist with the research interest in treatment and prevention of later life mood and stress-related disorders using complementary and integrative medicine approaches. She is a recipient of two Career Development awards from NIMH and other prestigious research awards. Her current research includes clinical and translational studies of geriatric depression and caregiver stress, as well as complementary and alternative interventions for stress reduction and memory loss in older adults.