For Families
You are a family caregiver.
You are the spouse, the child, grandchild, sibling, nephew or friend caring for someone you love because they need your help. I can help you.
There are many phases of caregiving.
Your place in these phases depends upon the physical and mental health of your loved one and their need for physical and emotional support . Whether the condition is new, chronic, declining or terminal, your caregiving role requires resources and strength.
There are also many things we can talk about, but let’s start with a few:
– You may be grieving the loss of the loved one who is no longer the same person you once knew. There are things to learn in psychotherapy about grief that can help explain the feelings and thoughts you’re having. It helps to talk through the facets of grief you’re experiencing with a therapist to learn to manage them and to help you cope better.
– It’s easy to lose balance in your life. You might be more crunched for time and are exercising less, reading novels less, overeating more or sleeping less. Let’s help you minimize the impact that caregiving has on your health.
– You may be frustrated by emotional baggage and family history. Sometimes it’s hard to break out of psychological patterns in relationships that go far back.
– There are lots of decisions to make. You’re trying to balance respect for your loved one with their safety in every decision that needs to be made. There is so much helpful information out there that it can be overwhelming. I can help tease out the necessary information and guide you through the process of making big decisions.
– You feel deeply responsible for not only their care, but their well-being. This is a big one. It can include guilt and resentment. And it can make you anxious and depressed.
Any one or a combination of these feelings are normal for those who are caring for a loved one but are affecting day-to-day functioning. It helps to talk about your feelings and working with a professional, objective psychotherapist is important to help you cope.
There can be joys.
I can help you find ways to live in the moment: to carve out and treasure the special times, to breathe, to put your efforts in perspective and to find as much peace amidst the caring as possible.