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Caregiver Burnout: When Someone You Love Is Chronically Ill March 26, 2014 . 16 Comments
This evening my local newspaper contained this sad headline: “Maryland couple found dead at home.” A husband and wife, both aged 72, died in an apparent murder-suicide. The ... Read More
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Letting Go of Resentment and Anger As a Caregiver August 22, 2013 . 19 Comments
The work of caregivers is difficult, at best. This is particularly true for those who provide care before they start the workday and after they come home in the evening. I am often amazed ... Read More
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My Girlfriend’s Depression Is Bringing Me Down. I Feel Helpless! August 16, 2013 . 79 Comments
It sounds like you have been a tremendous source of love, strength, and support for your girlfriend in her battle with depression. That takes incredible patience and compassion, but it ... Read More
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PTSD and Prolonged Grief in Caregivers July 2, 2013 . 39 Comments
Palliative care is designed to provide comfort and peace to individuals facing terminal illness and end-of-life transitions. Caregivers who watch over someone in palliative care often get ... Read More
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Coping with Secondary Trauma: A Loved One’s Guide June 5, 2013 . 7 Comments
Traumatic events usually occur without notice and result in people trying to deal with the aftereffects long after the event is over. Recent events, such as the Boston Marathon bombings, ... Read More
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Support for Siblings of Special Needs Children May 10, 2013 . 13 Comments
With the magnitude of demands placed on special needs families, siblings of special needs children can often feel overlooked and in need of emotional support. A “special needs child” ... Read More
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History Repeats Itself, Part I: The Persistent Influence of Our First Families April 25, 2013 . 8 Comments
History repeats itself, especially in our psychological lives and in our relationships. Although this fact has been recognized for millennia, one of its earliest formulations in the field ... Read More
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How Does Family Burden Affect Psychological Well-Being of Caregivers? April 12, 2013 . 9 Comments
Family burden is a term that encompasses all of the challenges that may exist for an individual who lives with someone who has experienced a significant illness, particularly a long-term ... Read More
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Disability and Traumatic Shame: A Way Out March 18, 2013 . 18 Comments
Many who live with disabilities are burdened by a chronic sense of shame that can be as difficult to live with as the actual disability. Shame is not the same as guilt. Shame is persistent ... Read More
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Losing Both Parents by Age 27: How I Began to Heal March 5, 2013 . 127 Comments
I woke up to my dad staring blankly at the wall the morning of October 14, 2004. It was the day before my 23rd birthday. I knew this day was coming, but nothing would prepare me to wake ... Read More
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Parenting Teens (and Staying Sane): A Developmental Framework February 25, 2013 . 16 Comments
“I hate you!” “You’re the worst parent who ever existed!” “I can’t wait to move out!” If you have recently heard these words (usually screamed at full volume, followed by ... Read More
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When It Comes to Caretaking and Helplessness, Enabling Is Disabling January 30, 2013 . 11 Comments
“Self-abandoned, relaxed and effortless, I seemed to have laid me down in the dried-up bed of a great river; I heard a flood loosened in remote mountains, I felt the torrent come; to ... Read More