Elderly persons live their lives facing varying levels of loss. They must live in a period of transition, between life and death, which is full of the pain of living, illness, aging and dying.
 Aging as a transitional stage can be understood as follows:
 1) Aging and loss: varying levels of loss related to the mind, body and interactions with reality are experienced, and they must live in the midst of change.
 2) Adaptation anxiety: the elderly experience“the anxiety that they with their present conditions cannot adapt to the environment.”It is clinically important to pay attention to the presence of the desire for life that lies behind this anxiety.
 3) Ambiguous borders: many borders, such as that between the body and consciousness, the world and self, and the sense of time and space, become ambiguous, diminishing their sense of living in the“here and now.”
 4) The phenomena of aging as a transitional period: they are easily swayed by minor stimuli, they live with anxiety, depression and pain, and they are likely to live in social isolation.
 5) Sexuality of the elderly: it is sometimes actively expressed, for which flexible treatment is required.
 The essence of psychotherapy for the elderly includes the following.
 1) Empathy, understanding and affirmation: to affirm their emotional experiences and their lives, and to actively acknowledge them.
 2) Simple behavioral prescriptions: to prescribe simple behavioral plans that suit their lifestyles and to encourage their practice.
 3) Attachment to youth (“should”thinking): to alleviate this attachment and search for a way of living that suits them.
 4) Stereotypical image of the elderly: therapists and families should be freed from it.
 5) Supportive environment for the elderly: interventions to provide a gentle and sustainable environment.
 6) Ability to be alone (rich solitude and self-containment): attention and active affirmation are desirable. Accepting loss on numerous levels, reducing obsession with this loss and acquiring an attitude of resignation are considered to help the elderly find suitable ways of living.
 ＜Author's abstract＞