Introduction

These are exciting times for the field of clinical geropsychology as numerous recent developments have signaled its growing maturity. In 2006, the National Conference on Training in Professional Geropsychology was held in Colorado Springs, Colorado, at the base of beautiful Pikes Peak. The aim of this conference was to develop an aspirational training model for competent geropsychologists, which culminated in the publication of the Pikes Peak Model for Training in Professional Geropsychology (Knight, Karel, Hinrichsen, Qualls, & Duffy, 2009). Notably, the Pikes Peak Model delineated aspirational attitude, knowledge, and skill competencies for geropsychology practice.

Another important outcome of the National Conference was the formation in 2007 of the Council of Professional Geropsychology Training Programs (CoPGTP; www.copgtp.org). CoPGTP now has more than 35 member programs that provide training in geropsychology at the predoctoral, internship, postdoctoral, and postlicensure levels. In addition, CoPGTP supported the development of the Pikes Peak Geropsychology Knowledge and Skill Assessment Tool (Karel, Emery, Molinari, & CoPGTP Task Force on the Assessment of Geropsychology Competencies, 2010), which is available at the CoPGTP website. This assessment tool allows for self-rating of numerous competencies aligned with the Pikes Peak Model and has emerging evidence for its utility and validity (Karel et al., 2012). More recently, the American Psychological Association (APA) Commission for the Recognition of Specialties and Proficiencies in Professional Psychology approved geropsychology as a specialty area of practice. With such recognition, leaders in the field of geropsychology are currently finalizing an application for board certification in geropsychology through the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP). If this initiative is successful, a mechanism will be in place for an individual psychologist who is deemed competent in foundational and functional competencies related to older adults to be credentialed as a specialist in geropsychology.

Recent years have also witnessed the publication of major resources devoted to the psychopathology of older adults (Segal, Qualls, & Smyer, 2011; Zarit & Zarit, 2007) and the psychotherapy of older adults (Gallagher-Thompson, Steffen, & Thompson, 2008; Laidlaw & Knight, 2008; Qualls & Williams, 2013; Sorocco & Lauderdale, 2011). However, all is not perfect. As the recent Institute of Medicine (2012) report has indicated, the geriatric mental health care workforce is too small and not adequately trained to meet the health needs of the growing older adult population in the United States; significant challenges remain.

Due to my professional interests in geropsychology, I wanted to increase the visibility of aging-related cases when I became editor of Clinical Case Studies. As such, I am most pleased to present to our readers this special issue of articles devoted to cases in geropsychology. It is my hope that these articles stimulate more research on the psychotherapeutic treatment of older adults with complex forms of psychopathology and complicated personal histories. I wish to thank the contributors of these articles for their fine submissions, and I hope to include more geropsychology-focused cases in upcoming issues of the journal. We have certainly come a long way in professional geropsychology, but much work remains to be done. I am very excited to see the continued evolution of clinical geropsychology in the coming years.