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From Overwhelm to Empowerment: 7 Strategies to Avoid Caregiver Exhaustion

Are you experiencing caregiver exhaustion? Embarking on the journey of being a caregiver for your spouse can often feel like a lonely path. It’s not uncommon for friends and family to struggle to comprehend the unique challenges you face. Adapting to the caregiver role demands a significant amount from you, and it can take a…

6 Steps to Defining the Role of Caregiver When Your Partner Is Sick

When your partner gets sick, you take on a new role: the role of caregiver. Sometimes, it happens subtly and over time. They get a diagnosis, and as the weeks and months go by while they fight the disease, you gradually take on more tasks and deal with new thoughts and emotions as a result. …

The Power of Honesty When Caregiving for Your Partner

When we make the choice to spend our lives with a partner, it’s rare that we envision someday becoming their caregiver. Yet, the unpredictable nature of life means we might find ourselves in a role we never foresaw, one of being a spousal caregiver. Adapting to this role can be difficult, even for those with…

Caregiver Resilience: What It Is, Why You Need It, and How to Build It

When caring for your partner, building resilience–the ability to continue forward in the face of adversity–is essential. Caregiver resilience is not just about surviving; it’s about finding strength in vulnerability, joy in the midst of sorrow, and courage in the face of adversity.  When my husband passed away from cancer, I attended a grief recovery…

How to Make Tough Decisions as a Spousal Caregiver

Knowing how to make tough decisions quickly and effectively is an essential skill every spousal caregiver needs. When you’re caring for your sick partner, you’re constantly making decisions. You are faced with everything from deciding what to tell friends and family about your spouse’s illness to choosing doctors or treatments to figuring out how to…

Experiencing Caregiver Fatigue? These 3 Things are Draining Your Energy

Do you feel good when you wake up most mornings? Do you have an abundance of energy that propels you to face the day ahead? If you’re caregiving for your spouse, my guess is your answer is “No.” You’re more likely experiencing caregiver fatigue, waking up feeling exhausted most mornings.  How much energy you have…

5 Tips for Navigating Caregiver Spouse Intimacy

Are you struggling to navigate caregiver spouse intimacy? When your partner is sick, developing and sustaining intimacy becomes challenging because it’s different from what you might be used to. However, it’s not impossible to keep the spark alive in your marriage.  For one of my clients–we’ll call her Nancy–her husband had always been her emotional…

A Guide to Self-Care for the Caregiver When Your Partner Has a Serious Illness

It was summer, and we had recently found out my husband’s cancer had returned. We were back in the routine of constant doctor appointments, treatment decisions, and feeling fear and anxiety about what the future held. I was working full-time as I always had been, but the sleepless nights were beginning to wear on me.…

How to Deal with Caregiver Resentment

When your spouse has a serious illness like cancer it seems like life starts to revolve around them. Conversations become about treatment and doctors’ appointments, new research, and trials. Daily life is centered around how they are feeling that day and what they need help with. The future becomes about them too. It becomes limited…

What to Do When the Fear of Losing Your Spouse Paralyzes You

“I can’t live without my husband.” I hear this a lot from clients whose spouses have cancer. The fear of losing your spouse is completely normal, even rational, after a terminal diagnosis.  When I first met with Cindy, her husband had been diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer. They had been together since she was…

The Power of Gratitude When Your Spouse Has Cancer

Feeling grateful when your spouse has cancer sounds like an oxymoron. But once you truly understand the power of gratitude, it doesn’t feel so contradictory. Instead, it begins to feel like the one thing that will keep you strong, resilient, and hopeful on this journey.  Feeling Sorry For Yourself When Your Spouse Has Cancer For…

“My Husband Has Cancer, and I Want to Leave”

Fighting cancer can be such a long road. Being a caregiver for a spouse with cancer requires stamina we are rarely prepared for. There are so many ups and downs.  One week your husband is doing fine and feeling better. The next week, something comes up, and you’re back in the hospital getting more tests…

Getting To Know Your Anxiety When Your Partner Has Cancer

Do you experience health anxiety about cancer for your spouse? Do you have caregiver anxiety when it comes to managing your many responsibilities–none of which you were prepared for? Do you want to know how to relieve stress and anxiety quickly? You’re not alone, my friend. I’ve dealt with anxiety for most of my life.…

Coaching Versus Therapy: How to Know What’s Right For You as a Caregiver

If you’re here, you’re probably wondering, “Do I need therapy or a life coach?” Your partner has cancer, and you feel overwhelmed, exhausted, lonely, and stuck. You realize you need to get some support for yourself, but where do you turn? Should you find a therapist or life coach? What’s the difference between coaching and…

How to Encourage Someone with Cancer & Believe in Their Strength Regardless

Knowing what to say to a cancer patient is one thing. Knowing what to say to a cancer patient who is also your partner can be even more challenging. You love them and want nothing more than to see them better. But if you’re also your partner’s caregiver, you have to take on that role…

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