Self Care for Caregivers - Part 1

Becoming a caregiver for someone you love is often an unplanned and sudden event.  Whether you are the caregiver for your spouse, lover, parent, child or someone else in your life who is dear to you, you might find yourself suddenly in a situation where you feel totally unprepared to juggle the various demands of taking care of your loved one while trying to manage the countless details of daily life.

Self Care For Caregivers

Primary Caregivers Often Forget to Take Care of Themselves
When you're the primary caregiver for a loved one, it's easy to forget to take care of yourself.  You might forget about your own health and well-being.  And, yet, if you neglect your own health, you could easily become sick, and you won't be able to do the things you need to do for yourself--let alone try to take care of your loved one.

To suddenly find yourself in the role of a primary caregiver can derail you both physically and emotionally.  Most people don't have the luxury of putting aside the rest of their lives to focus exclusively on being a caregiver, so being a caregiver can feel overwhelming.

In upcoming blog articles, I'll focusing be on the importance of self care for caregivers and steps that you can take to take care of yourself (see my articles: Self Care For Caregivers - Part 2: Caregivers' Common Emotional Reactions, Self Care For Caregivers - Part 3 - Tips For Self Care

Emotional Support for Caregivers
One of the most important aspects of self care is having emotional support.  Being able to talk to supportive friends and family who are willing to listen can help to ease some of the emotional burden.

Getting Help in Therapy
Many people find it helpful to talk to a psychotherapist, who is objective and impartial.  A therapist, who has experience helping primary caregivers, can help you to cope with the emotional strain of taking care of your loved one as well as balancing his or her needs with your needs.

About Me

I am a licensed NYC psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, EMDR and Somatic Experiencing therapist.  

I work with individual adults and couples.

I have worked with many clients who were primary caregivers and helped them to take care of their own needs.

To find out more about me, visit my website:  Josephine Ferraro, LCSW - NYC Psychotherapist

To set up a consultation, call me at (917) 742-2624 during business hours or email me.