Caregiver Counseling – Part 1

Family Caregiver Counseling

In 2015, 4 out of every 10 adults in the US served or became a caregiver for another family member. Before taking on this rather important mantle of responsibility, these individuals had been sons, husbands, fathers, brothers, sisters, daughters, wives, and mothers.

Many of these individuals didn’t choose to form a symbiont circle with another life. Even if they had been doing life with these family members before becoming a caregiver, the relationship is drastically changed because one has become necessarily reliant on the other for all things.

In many of these cases (60%), caregivers are providing upwards of 60 or more hours a week to taking care of the family member that needs their assistance. This is usually on top of working 30 to 40+ hours a week at a part-time or full-time job.

That can be overwhelming. It can be disheartening. Whatever plans the caregiver had before taking on this role have had to be put on the backburner… maybe even indefinitely. Such an inexplicable change in one’s life can bring up feelings of inadequacy, inexperience, frustration, bitterness, and even resentment.

It’s not surprising to feel that way at all. But what is most important is how you work through those feelings for the good of both yourself and the family member for whom you care. This is where family caregiver counseling comes in handy.

Caregiver counseling is not the same as traditional talk therapy. In the case of the latter, it’s all about the internal and external resources are never discussed. With family caregiver counseling, however, the goal is to assess those external needs as much – if not more – than the internal needs.

My name is Sharon Gayle and as an emotional support counselor I have seen my fair share of caregivers going through much of what I have just described. If you are a caregiver – or know somebody who is – please don’t hesitate to contact me about what we can do together to make being a caregiver just bit easier.

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