Throughout our caregiving journey, we are developing so many new skills and collecting more resources than we know what to do with.

It can feel like we are getting our ‘masters in caregiving’ and preparing to write a thesis!

Getting her ‘masters’ was an expression that Colleen Kavanaugh, Certified Caregiving Consultant, used to explain why after a decade of caring for her own parents she decided to pursue a career in caregiving.

Whether we like it or not, caregiving changes us.

Colleen Kavanaugh – Certified Caregiving Consultant

Colleen and I met when we were both included on a round-table discussion called ‘Preparing for your Future’ during Caregiving.com’s Third Annual Virtual Caregiving Conference (can listen to the full conference here). After ten years of being a caregiver for both her parents, Colleen decided to use her ‘masters in caregiving’ and take it one step further by becoming a Certified Caregiving Consultant. This decision was actually the opposite of what Colleen initially thought she would do but explained that she couldn’t ignore the impact caregiving had on her life.

Caregiver Hindsight

Colleen has a gift of caregiving hindsight that she shares with her clients and with us. In this clip from our conversation, Colleen doesn’t hesitate to reflect and share what she would have done differently.

Colleen’s caregiving consulting business is called The Longest Dance. On her site, she offers a great free tool called ‘The Binder’. It’s a collection of seven printables that add calm and control to your caregiving responsibilities.