• The “Aging Wisely Project”: Redefining a New Stage of Elderhood

  • Oct 9 2023
  • Length: 1 hr
  • Podcast
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The “Aging Wisely Project”: Redefining a New Stage of Elderhood

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  • As Scott Fisher and Ben Green approached their 70th birthdays, the two lifelong friends decided to dig deeply into the challenges of healthy aging. Faced with the prospect of retirement, declining bodies, and the insistent reminders of mortality, they harnessed their combined eight decades of work experience to arrive at some fresh conclusions about “aging wisely.” Scott, an organizational psychologist, and Ben, a psychoanalyst, decided to take a novel, more personalized approach grounded in their clinical training and deep experience in the field: They interviewed a diverse sample of 52 elders, aged 70 to 95, and the life stories they heard were dazzling in their variety and depth. In today’s episode, Scott and Ben tell us their own story about how they blended personal and statistical research to create what has become “The Aging Wisely Project”—soon to be released as a book. As they sifted through the results, the two researchers realized that they had new information and conclusions about the later stages of life. They propose a practical, yet radical extension, to Erik Erikson’s iconic 8-stage model of human development, adding a 9th stage of potential growth they call “Elder Identity Revision.” Ben and Scott will talk about some of the challenges awaiting us in elderhood, as well as the skills and attitudes required to get the most out of one’s elder years. It is their steadfast conviction that it is never too late to change for the better and grow in every stage of life, and make the time left to us fulfilling, meaningful and satisfying.
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