Caregiver Support Resources
Whether you're caring for an aging parent, spouse, partner, family member, or someone living with a chronic illness or disability, caregiving can affect nearly every part of your life.
You may find yourself balancing appointments, medications, finances, household responsibilities, work, relationships, and your loved one's changing needs. And sometimes the hardest part is feeling like everything depends on you.
Caregivers often put their own needs last. You may experience:
You may also experience caregiver guilt — the feeling that you should be doing more, even when you are already doing everything you reasonably can.
It is possible to love someone deeply and still feel exhausted. You can be grateful to care for someone and also feel frustrated. You can want the best for your loved one while wishing you had more help.
These feelings don't make you a bad caregiver. They make you human.
You can't pour from an empty cup — caring for yourself is part of caring for them.
Instead of saying, “I need help,” consider identifying specific tasks someone else can take over — picking up prescriptions, preparing meals, providing transportation, sitting with your loved one, handling a household task, or accompanying your loved one to an appointment.
There may be things you cannot control. Your responsibility is not to create a perfect situation — it is to do what you reasonably can.
Even short periods away from caregiving responsibilities can matter. A walk, a phone call with a friend, a quiet cup of coffee, or time doing something you enjoy can help you reconnect with yourself.
Caregiving can become isolating. Try to maintain relationships outside of your caregiving role.
You don't have to protect everyone else from your feelings. A therapist can provide a private space to talk honestly about the difficult parts of caregiving without judgment.
Dementia caregiving can bring unique emotional and practical challenges. The Alzheimer's Association provides education, support groups, caregiver resources, and a 24/7 helpline: 800-272-3900.
Consider reaching out for professional support if you are experiencing persistent anxiety, depression, hopelessness, severe sleep problems, emotional exhaustion, significant relationship difficulties, or increasing difficulty functioning. You don't have to wait until you reach a breaking point.
Caregiving can change your identity, your relationships, your routines, and your sense of the future. Therapy can give you a place to focus on you. Together, we can explore the emotional challenges of caregiving, work through guilt and difficult feelings, identify healthy boundaries, and develop strategies for taking care of yourself while continuing to care for someone you love.
Being a good caregiver does not require sacrificing your own well-being. You matter, too.
Schedule a ConsultationThe information on this page is educational and is not a substitute for individualized mental-health care.
