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According to Ryan and Deci, in late adulthood the most basic needs of an individual are autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Maintaining independence, being able to do things well that they have always done well, and feeling loved and valued are the keys to a happy elderly individual. Finding ways to help clients fulfill any one of these needs could be the missing piece!

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By the end of middle adulthood, one hopes to have raised children or held a job for a significant period of time. This helps an individual feel accomplished; like their time has been spent well. If this is not the case for a client, a counselor might encourage helping out in the community or seeking job satisfaction, among other ways to achieve this feeling of accomplishment.

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Help your married clients reach Gottman's "homeostatic steady state" by encouraging them to embrace and balance ALL of the good AND bad aspects of their relationship.

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"40 to 50% of first marriages and up to 60% of remarriages end in divorce (in the U.S.)," (The Life Span, 2015). There is no specific cause or "formula for disaster" that we can point to. Theorists suspect that it has to do with the everyday struggles of middle adulthood taking a toll on otherwise normal marriages.

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It is believed that we choose mates first based on physical and personality attraction, then finalize our decision by taking our similarities and compatibility into account. If we simply follow the U.S. definition of "love", we often fall short of successful marriage.

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From partners, to parents, to empty-nesters...

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Erikson describes ego integrity as the main goal of late adulthood, versus ego despair. At this age, a person should be able to look back and feel that their life served a purpose and meant something, rather than feeling that they wasted time and space.

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"Includes all dimensions of self-knowledge and serves as the foundation for the behavioral, affective, and cognitive commitments to career, relationships, and political and religious belief systems that will be made in adulthood," (The Life Span, 2015).

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Accept and live with loss of skill, loved ones, etc., by learning to do things in a different but equally effective way.

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Even though things may change, middle adults can still be who they are and do the things they've always done.

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People in middle adulthood can still grow through new understanding and skills.

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This theory helps us understand that we are the way we are because of our past, and in turn shows us what our future can or will be like if we continue in a certain way. LSDP tells us that development does not stop just because life's milestones have been met. and we are past peak physical potential.

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This period of life, roughly ages 30-55 is most often defined by career, stress, marriage, family, sexuality, and leisure. Research is lacking, however, on how our development in middle adulthood is linked to our early childhood and our future, late adulthood. Soooo, that's where the "Life Span Developmental Theory" comes into play!