Who Really Benefits from Caregiving? The Answer Might Surprise You. I was getting ready to leave my mother’s home after a full, lovely day together — shopping, lunch, an afternoon of HGTV on the couch — when she asked me a question I wasn’t prepared for. She wanted to know if she had done something
The Hidden Key to Caregiving: Emotional Resilience I thought I’d be great at this. After 25 years as an occupational therapist, I had worked with countless patients and was completely comfortable assisting others with their daily lives — dressing, bathing, feeding, even helping someone safely onto a toilet. When my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s,
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How a Spiritual Practice Can Support Caregivers For many caregivers, the idea of spirituality can feel overwhelming. It may sound abstract, like something reserved for people who have quiet mornings, long stretches of time, and the emotional space to reflect. Caregivers rarely have any of those. But spirituality does not have to be lofty or
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MOMENTS THAT FIND US At my recent book signing, I had one of those encounters that stays with you. The kind that reminds you why this work matters, and how caregiving has a way of gently revealing itself in everyday moments. While I was at my table, I noticed a man guiding his father through
🛁 Bathing a Loved One: Safety, Dignity, and Comfort Bathing a loved one is one of the most intimate caregiving tasks. If you’ve ever felt unsure, awkward, afraid they might fall — or heartbroken when they resisted — you are not alone. Before my mother moved into assisted living, she showered every day. Long, hot
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Dressing another person can be far more complicated than it looks. What was once a quick, automatic part of the day can become physically challenging, emotionally charged, and unexpectedly intimate. If you’ve ever found yourself feeling rushed, frustrated, or unsure while helping someone get dressed, you’re not alone. I want to begin by saying this
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The Power of Curiosity: A Quiet Strength for Family Caregivers During one of my visits with my mother, as she napped in her wheelchair, I found myself memorizing her face — trying to etch every detail into my mind for the day when she would no longer be here. I studied the shape of her
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How to Trust Your Instincts as a Caregiver Something feels off, but we’re not sure what. Does the strange behavior our family member just displayed mean something? Should we mention it to the doctor? How do we know when it’s time to say something? This can be a sensitive and uncertain place to sit. We
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Realistic Self-Care If one more person tells us we need to take care of ourselves, we’re going to scream. We hear it all the time, from friends, neighbors, family members, even our doctors. And they always think they’re being clever when they follow it up with that tired old airplane analogy: “Put your own oxygen
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The Value of Anger in Caregiving I recently met Donna after one of my talks about my book. With tears in her eyes, she told me that so much of what I said had validated what she’d been feeling for years. Donna has been caring for her husband for a long time and has felt