Working with Toxic Older Adults

Gloria M. Davenport (PhD), moved to California in 1948 and is still involved with aging activities after working in Orange County for 40 years, creating or developing a variety of programs in the helping professions. Gloria received her BA and Pupil Personnel Counseling Credential at Chapman University, her MA in Social Science from California State University at Fullerton, a Certificate in Assertion Training at the University of California at Irvine, completed additional post-graduate work in Pastoral Counseling at Claremont School of Theology, and earned a PhD from Claremont Graduate University in Education in 1991 at the age of 63. In 1972, as a professor at Santa Ana College, Dr. Davenport initiated, developed, chaired, and wrote the curriculum for a Human Services Department, being one of the first to incorporate training for older adult peer counseling. She taught subjects primarily in the areas of applied psychology and personal and professional growth and development. During the last 12 years of her tenure she was the Counselor for Reentry Students and Older Adults, teaching assertive self-development and personality-type classes. She retired in 1996 to complete her research for this book, a spinoff from her dissertation on ""The Determinants of Successful Aging."" IN 1992, she originated a workshop and support group program for adult children of toxic agers called ACTA. She has also presented at two American Society of Aging Conferences, and for 3 years wrote a monthly column on aging for the college's Older Adult Newsletter. Dr. Davenport is a member of the American Society on Aging, the California Council on Gerontology and Geriatrics, the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education, the Orange County Behavioral Health Care-Older Adult Services Committee, and the Orange County Roundtable Aging Network. In 1982 and 1988 she received commendations for outstanding service to the elderly in Orange County. She is also a member of the International Enneagram Association, the Association of Psychological Type, and for many years was a member of the International Transactional Analysis Association.

Dedication
Acknowledgments
Foreword
Preface
Part I. What Do You Mean - Toxic?
Introduction, Definitions, Descriptions
Why the Focus on Toxic Agers?
How Do We Know They’re Toxic?
Are Toxic Agers Found in all Groups?

Part II. Who’s Affected by Toxic Agers and How?
Impact on Professionals
Potential Co-Victims

Part III. What Causes Toxicity?
Introduction
Is Nature the Cause of Toxicity?
Is Nurture the Cause of Toxicity?
Is it Nature and Nurture?

Part IV. Can We Intervene and Cope? Uncover Negative Beliefs?
Some Professional Tips
Strategies ad Techniques

Part V. Is Toxicity Preventable? Is Healing Possible?
Self-Help and Prevention
The Path to Healing

Afterword
Glossary
References
Index