Perhaps you were just diagnosed or have been living with an illness for many years. Or maybe, you suffered an accident or injury, deal with chronic pain, have a new disability, or have experienced any sort of medical trauma. In all these situations, feelings of stress, anxiety, preparatory grief, guilt, overwhelm, and hopelessness are all common. The good news is that you have options and specialized therapeutic support can be extremely helpful. When interfacing with so many medical providers, you deserve an open, compassionate, non-judgmental space to explore the many difficulties you are facing, have faced, and will face. It is a full-time job to manage a complex health condition and being open to the emotional piece of it can free up much needed mental space.

When a loved one is ill, injured, or facing medical issues or trauma, all our focus goes to supporting the patient. As a caregiver (be it parent, spouse, child, or any other relationship) you also deserve equal time, space and support. The health and mental health of caregivers has direct impact on the health and wellness of those they are caring for. Specialized therapeutic support for caregivers can be a game-changer in how we cope and manage stress, which in turn helps the person with the illness. I will help you learn a great deal of new skills, knowledge, and strengths that can percolate into the rest of your life; caregivers are tough and flexible, and specialized therapy can evoke this resilience to its fullest.

We often don't have time to breathe, cope, or reflect during a loved one's illness. And after a loved one's death from illness, or after experiencing a loved one’s sudden death, we are thrust into figuring out how to live without their physical presence and also within our new selves, identities, and roles. This can be a rich time to pursue therapy, to fill the void such a loss can create for us. We do not move on from experiencing the death of a loved one, but rather, we move through it and move with it. Together we will learn how to live alongside loss, and how to integrate grief and memory into your story and into who you are.

There is a unique experience of being a caregiver to someone who has dementia or other forms of cognitive impairment. These caregivers experience ambiguous loss – the loss that occurs when someone is physically present but psychologically absent. This ambiguity is extremely difficult to cope with, but specialized therapeutic support can help us to learn how to be able to hold two opposing ideas in our mind at one time. For example, I can enjoy spending time with my loved one in the new ways their dementia requires and at the same time I can also grieve the loss of who the person used to be. This is no easy task but something that we can learn together.

There is a specific experience of those who are called the “sandwich generation” (or as Lee Woodruff calls it, the “panini generation”). Not only are they experiencing the role reversal inherent in caring for aging or sick parents, but they are also parenting their own children. They are pressed impossibly hard from both sides! And balancing the unique and challenging needs of both those generations as well as our own needs as individuals can feel out of reach. Specialized therapeutic support can help navigate these challenges and reduce stress.

An illness or new/changing disability can be seen as the third partner in a relationship. The ways we communicated, enjoyed time together, and envisioned the future is forever changed when illness or disability enters into or evolves with the relationship. Both people in a relationship are experiencing the same diagnosis but in such vastly different ways. Specialized therapeutic support can be helpful in redefining the relationship, navigating the stresses and losses that inevitably arise, and valuing equally each partner’s experience.

I am formally trained in Dignity Therapy, a brief psychotherapy for people who are imminently facing the end of their lives.

Dignity Therapy can help conserve a sense of dignity by addressing sources of psychosocial and existential distress. You are given an opportunity to remember and record the meaningful aspects of your life and leave something behind that can benefit your loved ones in the future.

During our sessions, I will ask open-ended questions to encourage you to talk about your life and what matters most to you. The conversation is recorded, transcribed, edited and then returned within a few days; we will edit the legacy document together before a final version is produced that can be shared with family and friends.

Dignity Therapy can be done as it’s own stand alone therapy, or as part of our longer-term therapeutic relationship.

Together with Duet: Partners in Health and Aging, I facilitate their Finding Meaning and Hope Discussion Series for caregivers of people with dementia, which is a 10-week group discussion series for full-time, part-time, or long-distance caregivers.

The Finding Meaning and Hope Discussion Series is built on solid research and years of practical experience. You will get real help in dealing with the challenges, losses, and rewards of being a family caregiver of someone who is, or is becoming, psychologically absent.

You will meet fellow family caregivers and discuss how to regain hope and build resilience. You will learn skills that help you stay strong, healthy, and positive as you navigate your caregiving journey.