Mental Health & Aging
Support Groups for Older Adults
There are many wonderful peer support groups for adults in Marin County. Some are targeted towards particular topics, while others are open to any and all of the concerns and interests of older people.
One of the ones I am familiar with and heartily recommend is called “Elders’ Circle”. It is a free, weekly drop-in support group for folks 60 years old and up. The group meets at Whistlestop Senior Center in San Rafael. Elder Circle is facilitated by two wonderful older men Herman Claussen and Steve Olian, both of whom are trained group facilitators with many years of group leadership experience. Both men and women participate in Elders Circle and all newcomers are welcome to talk about any issues at all and to find support and friendship. Elders Circle meets Wednesdays from 10-11:30AM. You can call Whistlestop at 415- 456-9062 for more information.
Another wonderful support group for older folks in Marin is called AgeSong. AgeSong is designed to be a place where men and women 65 and older can meet and discuss “concerns and desires, enlivening the search for deeper joy and satisfaction in our later years.” Topics for discussion include “How Did I Get to Be This Old?”, “Creating a New Old Age”, and “The Courage to Find New Possibilities in the Midst of Loss”. AgeSong meets for 8 weekly sessions, the cost is $80 for sessions, and scholarships are available. For information or to register, you can call AgeSong 415-491-5700, ext. 5726.
Another excellent resource in the North Bay is Senior Spectrum which offers opportunities for LGBT older adult men and women to come together for socializing, support, and community. Senior Spectrum also provides resources and referral as well as education and advocacy. For more information, you can contact Cristin Brew at (415) 472-1945 x203 or email cbrew@SpectrumLGBTCenter.org.
Senior Peer Counseling in Marin
Volunteering is often talked about in terms of benefits for society and for the volunteers themselves. Older adults who reach out to share their wisdom, kindness and service in their communities generally experience higher self-esteem, less depression, an increase in friends and less overall decline in health. One of our wonderful volunteer opportunities in Marin is the Senior Peer Counseling (SPC) program, managed for 20 years by Community Mental Health.
Peer counselors receive 8 weeks of initial training in issues facing older adults. These include aging, medical problems, isolation and family conflicts. Then, after being taught basic counseling skills and introduced to Marin’s extensive range of services for seniors, they are matched with one or more homebound older adults in need of counseling. Services are offered in English and Spanish. SPC’s next training will be held in April, 2010 in San Rafael.
SPC volunteers come from all walks of life: they are retired actors, directors, nurses, mental health professionals, professors, and computer entrepreneurs. Nan Heflin MFT, one of the coordinators of SPC, says, “Our volunteers are from diverse backgrounds, but they all have in common an interest in their own aging process and personal growth, and a belief that one can change at any age… Over and over I hear from the volunteers that they get as much from being counselors as the clients get from them.”
Peter Schmid of Greenbrae and Cynthia Wood of Bolinas are among the program’s 35 volunteer counselors. “Counseling is a chance to do something for humanity,” says Schmid, age 79, who has been a volunteer for 15 years. Adds Wood, age 77: “People are really appreciative.”
For more information on how to volunteer with Senior Peer Counseling and the next training, call 415-499-6802.