Caregiver Burnout
As a teen, I assisted my Mom in providing caregiving for my Dad for almost ten years. There were various stages, each one progressively worse. Whether family, relatives, co-workers or friends, few truly understand your struggle unless they have experienced it. You may feel as if you have burnt your candle at both ends. You may not be able to even go to the grocery store when you want. Life can feel imprisoning. Often, the outside world seemingly expects the caregiver to have positive feelings about providing so much care to their loved one. This can leave you as the caregiver in a lonely place with a myriad of both positive and negative feelings. Although you may love who they are caring for, you also may feel frustrated at the loss of freedom, sadness about watching a progressive illness take hold and grief about all that you are missing in life.
Therapy Can Help…
Therapy is a place where you do not have to limit yourself to only positive feelings. You can be real…and heal…so that you can be there for others…and for yourself. You cannot give from an empty coffee cup. Filling your own cup is the most selfless thing that you could ever do! Therapy can help you openly express and process negative emotions and thoughts. It can help you find your own sense of value…again…or maybe for the first time. Therapy can also help by assisting you in determining if there are other factors such as past experiences, childhood issues, etc. that may be exacerbating your current circumstances. It can also provide you with healthy coping skills, information regarding resources as needed as well as support and validation for your experiences as a caregiver. One of the most difficult aspects of caregiving may be the isolation that it brings. It is not that people do not care. It is that they are unsure of how to help and even if they know how, they may feel a sense of overwhelm, including facing their own sense of mortality. Thus, therapy can provide you with an opportunity to lessen the isolation. During sessions, part of healing is determining what you can control vs what you cannot and then concentrating on what you can control while releasing what you cannot.
Please do not hesitate to reach out! The 15-minute consultation is absolutely free and no commitment is necessary.