When you think about assisted living facilities, you'll often consider the wide range of on-site health services that are available to residents. In addition to having nurses on staff around the clock, many homes have regular visits from physicians, chiropractors, massage therapists, and podiatrists. What you might not know, however, is that some assisted living homes also have counselors who visit regularly. This service allows residents to set up counseling appointments, whether it's something regular or something only once. When you're elderly, there are many things that you may wish to discuss with a counselor, including the following:

Grief Management

If you're moving into assisted living shortly after the death of your spouse, you may be experiencing a high degree of grief. While the act of moving can serve as somewhat of a distraction, and you'll soon be making new acquaintances in your new environment, it's still useful to deal with your grief in a healthy manner. On-site counseling means that you can talk to a mental health professional who understands what you're going through. In many cases, the counselors who work at such locations will be acquainted with issues for senior citizens, so this person can help you to process and manage your grief.

Acceptance Of Aging

Not everyone finds the aging process to be easy. There can often be a variety of emotions that are present as you age, including guilt over not taking better care of your body if you're experiencing health complications, regret over not achieving different successes earlier in your life, and even guilt that you're growing old when some of your friends and family members are not. Each of these things has the potential to be upsetting and weigh on your mind, but having a counselor to speak to on a regular basis in your assisted living home can help you.

Depression

Depression affects people of all age groups, including those who are elderly. There are plenty of reasons that seniors can get depressed — the sheer idea that they're in the latter part of life can be enough to be discouraging, and seeing your peers pass away may also leave you feeling depressed. You don't want to miss out on all of the opportunities available to you in assisted living because you're feeling depressed. Instead of isolating yourself in your room, you can get help for your mental health through the on-site counseling that is offered.

Check out a website like http://www.vvrconline.org for more information and assistance.