A large conference room filled with attendees sitting at round tables listening to a woman giving a presentation at the front. - this is Dr. Allison Ilem training healthcare providers. A projection screen displays a slide on chronic disease.

Professional Consultation and Training

Grounded expertise. Practical Insight. Meaningful Impact.

Geropsychology Consultation for Organizations

Steady Guidance for Complex Aging-Related Challenges

Organizations that serve older adults and caregivers are often navigating emotionally complex, high-stakes situations—cognitive change, family conflict, ethical uncertainty, staff burnout, and serious illness decisions. Jaybird & Oak provides geropsychology-informed consultation to help organizations respond with clarity, confidence, and compassion.

Drawing on advanced training in the psychology of aging, our consultation services support teams in understanding the human dimensions behind the challenges they face.

Consultation is collaborative, practical, and tailored to your organization’s setting—whether healthcare, senior living, community-based services, legal, or interdisciplinary care teams. Services may be provided on an ongoing basis or as short-term support during particularly complex situations.

At Jaybird & Oak, consultation is not about giving directives—it’s about offering grounded perspective, clinical insight, and a steady presence. We help organizations navigate uncertainty, reduce distress, and create systems that honor dignity, autonomy, and well-being across later life.

Dr. Allison Ilem is a therapist, aging expert, & innovative designer. She is a woman with wavy blonde hair, glasses, smiling, wearing a green top and cream scarf, against an abstract painted background.

  • Case Consultation to support staff navigating complex behavioral, cognitive, or family dynamics

  • Dementia-Informed Practice Guidance, including communication strategies, optimizing of strengths, and environmental considerations

  • Ethical and Capacity-Related Consultation, supporting values-based decision-making and risk awareness

  • Caregiver and Family Dynamics Support, helping teams manage conflict, boundaries, and emotional strain

  • Serious Illness and End-of-Life Consultation, including emotionally charged conversations and transitions

  • Staff Support and Burnout Prevention, offering psychological insight to sustain workforce well-being

  • Program and Policy Consultation, ensuring aging-related practices are psychologically informed and person-centered

Consultation Services May Include:

Person organizing yellow sticky notes on a white table for a project. Consultation and training for organizations.
Dr. Allison Ilem giving a presentation on mental health topics to an audience in a conference room. The slides mention suicide, disabilities, and risk levels. The audience was social workers, and nurses, and medical providers.

Education & Training for Organizations

Want more training for your team?

At Jaybird & Oak, we offer specialized education and training designed to support organizations, professionals, and communities working with older adults, caregivers, and families. Rooted in advanced geropsychology training and informed by real-world experience, our programs translate complex psychological concepts into practical, accessible guidance.

We help teams better understand the emotional, cognitive, and relational realities of aging so they can respond with confidence, compassion, and skill.

Our trainings are ideal for healthcare organizations, senior living communities, social service agencies, legal and financial professionals, faith communities, and community groups seeking to deepen their understanding of aging-related issues.

Trainings can be customized for in-person or virtual delivery and tailored to the needs of your organization—whether you’re looking for a brief educational session, a skills-based workshop, or ongoing consultation.

At Jaybird & Oak, education is not about overwhelming with information—it’s about offering steady guidance, thoughtful perspective, experiential learning, and tools people can use right away. Our goal is to help organizations create environments where older adults and those who support them feel understood, respected, and well-served.

Reach out to talk more about how training might look at your organization.

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Common Training Topics Include:

  • Including the emotional, identity, and relational changes in later life

  • Focused on communication, optimizing remaining skills, reducing distress, and supporting engagement

  • Addressing burnout, navigating boundaries, and facilitating effective engagement

  • Helping teams recognize and respond to psychological stressors, and understanding the intersection of psychological factors and medical issues

  • This includes anticipatory grief, non-death loss, and complicated emotions

  • This includes practical frameworks, values-based support, and navigating systems of care

  • Understanding what matters most, and using this information to guide treatment decisions. This training focuses on fostering dignity, clarity, and emotional safety

  • This training covers risk factors and protective factors for suicide in later life. We review appropriate screening and assessment methods, and corresponding interventions to support safety.

  • Using the science of teamwork to strengthen communication across roles and systems

Upcoming Events

See Jaybird & Oak at these events!

Business meeting with five people in a conference room, viewed through glass wall, with a presenter using a marker on a flip chart, and a presentation on a screen. Dr. Ilem's hands are shown moving while she presents and engages the audience.

Michigan Mental Health and Aging Conference

May 12 - 13, 2026

For more information, click here — Mental Health & Aging Project - Lansing Community College

Dr. Allison Ilem presents

“Cognitive Evaluation in Later Life: A Practical Guide for Mental Health Clinicians”

May 13, 2026

9:00am-12:00pm

Summary

Cognitive concerns frequently emerge for older adults in both medical and mental health settings, often presenting as mood changes, anxiety, behavioral shifts, or diminished treatment response. This presentation offers mental health clinicians a practical, geropsychology-informed overview of cognitive evaluation, including psychometric testing fundamentals and the thoughtful use of common neurocognitive screening tools. Using clinical examples and case vignettes, participants will learn to recognize cognitive red flags, distinguish normal aging from neurocognitive and psychiatric conditions, and determine when referral for comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation is indicated. Emphasis is placed on contextual interpretation, ethical practice, and integrating cognitive findings into effective, person-centered mental health care.

Objectives

By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:

1. Identify key cognitive red flags in older adult clients that warrant screening or referral for further evaluation.

2. Describe the appropriate use and limitations of common neurocognitive screening tools in mental health settings.

3. Integrate cognitive evaluation findings into treatment planning and therapeutic adaptations for older adults.

Register to attend

Check back soon for other upcoming events.

Like the OAK —rooted, steady, and enduring

and the JAYBIRD —observant, curious, and responsive

We offer training that balances depth with clarity. We offer perspective that helps organizations and professionals pause, see the full picture more clearly, and move forward thoughtfully.

Train with Us