Psychologists will need to develop increased competencies for Geropsychology practice to serve the behavioral and mental health care needs of an aging population. The Council of Professional Geropsychology Training Programs (CoPGTP) developed the Pikes Peak Geropsychology Knowledge and Skill Assessment Tool to help psychologists and geropsychology trainees evaluate professional geropsychology competencies and related training needs. In this study, geropsychologists and geropsychology trainees were asked to complete the competency tool to evaluate its psychometric properties and to assess MICHELE J. KAREL received her PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Southern California. She is a staff psychologist at the VA Boston Healthcare System and Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. Her areas of clinical and research interest include competency-based geropsychology training, aging and mental health, psychotherapy with older adults, and ethical issues in geriatric care. CAITLIN K. HOLLEY earned her PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Louisville. She is a staff psychologist at the Albany VA Medical Center. Her areas of professional interest include dementia screening and assessment, grief, and posttraumatic stress disorder.

The current study evaluated the effectiveness of a community-based elder abuse intervention program that assists suspected victims of elder abuse and self-neglect through a partnership with local law enforcement. This program, Eliciting Change in At-Risk Elders, involves building alliances with the elder and family members, connecting the elder to supportive services that reduce risk of further abuse, and utilizing motivational interviewing-type skills to help elders overcome ambivalence regarding making difficult life changes. Risk factors of elder abuse decreased over the course of the intervention and nearly three-quarters of participants made progress on their treatment goal, advancing at least one of Prochaska and DiClemente's (1983) stages of change (precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance). Forty-three percent of elders moved into the stages of action and maintenance regarding their goal. The usefulness of eliciting change via longer-term relationships with vulnerable elders in entrenched elder abuse situations is discussed.

An autobiographical memory task was used to study memory processes and depression in elderly individuals. Twenty-seven nondepressed and twenty-seven depressed elderly participants recalled thirty memories. Each memory was self-rated for happiness versus sadness and the degree of importance of the event at the time the event occurred (i.e., "then") and looking back on the event ("now"). Nondepressed participants perceived greater positive change in affective tone between "then" and "now" ratings. Depressed participants recalled more memories rated as sad "now" than nondepressed, and perceived negative and positive memories to become more neutral than nondepressed participants. These results are consistent with a mood congruence hypothesis, in that participants recalled more memories affectively consistent with current mood, and a self-enhancement view of reminiscing, such that recalling memories evaluated as happier was associated with less depression.

Older adults significantly underutilize mental health services relative to their numbers in the population. Barriers that impede their access include physical, financial, cognitive, emotional, and attitudinal issues. This article discusses strategies for overcoming these barriers, including physical adaptations such as in-home psychotherapy and telephone sessions, use of support groups, strong community outreach, and liaisons with other professionals. Adaptations that help to increase older adults' use of mental health services are discussed, including education about treatment, nontraditional "pursuit" of clients, and use of alternative terminology. Informed consent is discussed as a special issue.Older adults underutilize mental health services. Whereas approximately 13% of the U.S. population is over age 65, only 2 to 4% of patients in mental health outpatient clinics are over 65 (Eisdorfer & Stotsky, 1977). This is so, despite the fact that overall rates of mental disorders do not seem to decrease in older age. Providing appropriate mental health services to these elders can increase their quality of life, help prevent premature institutionalization, and reduce over-