Emotional self-care is about identifying how you are feeling and then honoring those emotions by caring for them. Practicing emotional self-care looks like respecting boundaries, forgiving yourself and others, seeking laughter, processing your emotions through writing, being vulnerable, having self-compassion, expressing gratitude, acting kind, sitting with grief, and giving yourself space to feel the feels. Below are the Happy Healthy Caregiver podcast episodes, blog posts, product ideas, and other resources to help you with your emotional self-care.
Podcast Episodes
Speak Your Truth
Allison Breininger has an MA in Education and spent twenty years in the realm of education. At 31, she became a caregiver for her husband, Sean, when he was diagnosed with the rare genetic disease Fanconi Anemia. She has been by his side through countless treatments and experienced firsthand that caregivers are in what she calls ‘the negative space’: vital yet overlooked and unsupported. In this episode, Allison shares why caregivers are part of the story and need to be recognized, why the oxygen mask analogy falls short, what tried and true tools help her in her caregiving life, and why ‘brightsiding’ is detrimental for care advocacy and caregiver wellness.
Stop Judging
Sabrina Ortolano has been a caregiver for her wife, Cyndi, since 2014 when Cyndi was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer. In this episode of the Happy Healthy Caregiver podcast, Sabrina and I talk about her identity crisis that sprouted from caregiving, the importance of body work, fundraising for brain surgery, asking for the right help, and managing judgment from others and unsolicited advice.
Shifting Family Roles
Edla Prevette is a mental health counselor who cared for both of her parents. Edla’s professional and personal care experiences are being poured into a program she has developed for adult children of aging parents. In this episode, Edla shares ways in which you can increase cooperation and decrease conflict, ideas for a caregiver’s to find their safe place, tips for handling different personality temperaments, and how to incorporate ‘exercise snacks’ into your day.
- Hope for Caregivers – Peter Rosenberger
- Healthy Shame-Free Boundaries – Karen Anderson
- Healing Powers of Nature – Lisa Nigro
- New Perspectives from Caregiving – Matt Perrin
- Recovering from Burnout – Usha Tewari
HHC Emotional Support Options
- Check out our upcoming events.
- 1:1 Caregiver Coaching – first 30-minute session is complimentary. Schedule your initial session or review additional coaching options.
- If you live in the Atlanta, GA area, you are invited to in-person caregiver programs through ACAP (Adult Children of Aging Parents). Learn more here.
- Join our email list and receive support and resources direct to your inbox.
- Elizabeth, along with two other Certified Caregiving Consultants, offers support and encouragement through the Self-Care Support for Caregivers FB Group.
Articles
From The Gift Shop
Books
For a Pick Me Up
- Just for You: a Daily Self-Care Journal by Elizabeth Miller
- Self Care for Caregivers by Susanne White
- Navigating the Caregiver River: a Journey to Sustainable Caregiving by Theresa Wilbanks
- Good Grief: a Companion for Ever Loss by Granger E. Westberg
- The 36 Hour Day by Nancy L. Mace
- You’re a Caregiver Not a Saint by Lori Ramos Lemasters
- Your Caregiver Relationship Contract: How to navigate the minefield of new roles and expectations by Debra Hallisey
Other Emotional Self-Care Resources
- Digital Course: Six Steps to Infusing Self-Care into Your Caregiving Life
- Nominate a family caregiver or yourself for a free caregiver respite retreat through Brutally Beautiful (national) or Nancy’s House (PA, NJ, and DE)
- Send someone who is providing care a caregiving card created by Senior Shower Project
- Daughterhood Drop-Ins – virtual support for family caregivers
