Our approach · therapy for older adults
Therapy for older adults — what we do differently.
Older adulthood is its own life stage. Most therapy is built for the general adult; ours is built for you. Slower start, accessible office, family on your terms, Medicare-fluent intake, eight languages, telehealth done well.
Why this is its own field
Therapy training mostly trains people to work with the general adult.
The average therapist sees clients in their 20s, 30s and 40s. Most graduate programs spend a few weeks — sometimes less — on the specific shapes mood, anxiety, grief and cognitive change take in later life. The result is a real gap: older adults often end up working with clinicians who treat them like a younger client with grey hair.
We don't. Pasadena Clinical Group is built around outpatient psychotherapy for adults 60 and up. Everything below is what that actually means in practice — not as marketing language, but as the small daily choices that make therapy feel like it fits.
What we do differently
Small choices that change how therapy feels.
Pacing
The first session runs slower. We spend more time orienting you — what therapy is, what it isn't, what to expect — before we start. Hesitation is normal; we make room for it.
Accessibility
Pasadena office with parking and elevator. Hearing-aid-friendly acoustics. Large-print intake. Telehealth setup we'll walk you through over the phone, no shame about tech.
Family — on your terms
If you want a session with your daughter, we'll do that. If you want her left out, she stays out. We never loop family in without your say-so. Your therapy belongs to you.
Telehealth done well
We don't pretend video is the same as in-person. It's its own thing — and for many clients, especially those with mobility or transportation issues, it works very well. We troubleshoot the tech without condescension.
Modality choice
We use evidence-based methods adapted for older adults — CBT, behavioral activation, problem-solving therapy, grief work, life review. See our modalities for what fits what.
Multilingual
Eight languages spoken at the practice: English, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Russian, Armenian. Care in your first language — particularly for grief, trauma, and end-of-life talk.
Medicare-fluent
We know Part B, Medicare Advantage, and how secondary insurance plays in. We verify benefits before your first session so there's no money surprise after the fact.
End-of-life comfort
We don't tiptoe around death, terminal diagnoses, or the practical questions that come with them. We don't dwell either. Many of our clients are doing real work in this territory — we go where they go.
The long arc
We treat your life as the long thing it is — not as a presenting symptom. Reminiscence and life review are part of the work when they help. So is silence, when that's what fits.
What a session looks like
A 60-minute hour, mostly your shape.
Sessions run an hour. Here's the rough rhythm — though every session is its own conversation, and we let it be.
Settling in
The first five minutes. You take off a coat, get comfortable, take a sip of water. We don't launch into the work the second you sit down. The week before this hour mattered; we acknowledge it before we get going.
The conversation
About forty-five minutes, mostly your shape. We listen, we ask, we go where it matters. We don't run a script. If you arrived planning to talk about one thing and it turns out something else is louder today, we follow that.
Wrapping up
The last ten minutes. We name what came up, mark anything we want to come back to, and — if it fits — pick one small thing to carry into the week. Then we look at the calendar and book the next one.
Service formats
Who's in the room with you.
Therapy isn't only one shape. Most clients start with one-on-one work, but many add a partner, a family meeting, or a small group when it fits.
Individual therapy
The most common shape. One-on-one, weekly, paced for later life.
Couples counseling
The two of you. Long marriages, remarriage, illness, end-of-life talk.
Family therapy
The wider room. Caregiving, role shifts, sibling decisions, hard conversations.
Group counseling
A small group of peers and a clinician. When we have an open group running.
What it can help with
The conditions we most often work with.
Late-life depression
Flatness that doesn't lift after rest. Treatable — usually fully.
Grief & bereavement
Loss that doesn't follow a schedule. Anticipatory, complicated, prolonged.
Anxiety in older adults
The 3am loop, the body that won't unclench, worry about the body itself.
Life transitions
Retirement, role shifts, an empty house, a new diagnosis.
Chronic illness adjustment
Living with — not being defined by — a diagnosis.
Insomnia
Asleep at 11, awake at 3. CBT-I usually helps in a handful of sessions.
Loneliness & isolation
Friends moved or died. Grandkids on a screen. The quiet that gets too quiet.
End-of-life & terminal illness
Living with knowing. Talking about it without making others feel small.
Cancer support
Diagnosis, treatment, fear of recurrence — and the part where it isn't your name.
Late-life divorce & relationship changes
The marriage that ended at 67. The friendship that finally said the unsayable.
Common questions
About how we work.
What's different about therapy for older adults?
Older adulthood is its own life stage. We pace the first session more slowly, orient you to how therapy works, use evidence-based methods adapted for this stage of life, and build the work around real things — Medicare, family, hearing, mobility, and the long arc of a life already lived.
Do you do telehealth or in-person?
Both. We see clients in person at our Pasadena office (parking, elevator, accessible building) and over secure video throughout California. Telehealth isn't a lesser version of in-person — it's its own thing, and it works well for many clients. We'll help you set up the tech the first time.
Do you involve family?
Only when, how, and to the extent you want. Sometimes it's a single family meeting; sometimes it's coordination with an adult child who's helping with logistics; sometimes it's never. Your therapy is yours.
What languages do you offer?
We offer therapy in English, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Russian, and Armenian. Care in your first language matters — particularly for grief, trauma, and end-of-life conversations. Tell us when you call and we'll match you well.
Do you take Medicare?
Yes. Medicare Part B, most Medicare Advantage plans, and many secondary insurances. We verify your benefits before your first session — call (626) 354-6440 and we'll handle it.
Therapy that fits where you are.
The first session is mostly listening. You don't have to know what to say or where to start. That's our job.