Your needs didn't disappear when theirs changed.

Caregiving can take over more of your life than you ever expected. There are appointments to keep track of, decisions to make, bills to pay, and often a lot of responsibility that other people don’t see. Somewhere in all of that, it can become pretty easy to lose track of how you’re doing. Your own plans, relationships, routines, and sense of what life looks like can shift along the way too. There can be love and meaningful moments, while also feeling exhausted, frustrated, worried, or wishing things were different.

Caregiving can bring up complicated and sometimes conflicting feelings. You might feel exhausted, frustrated or guilty. You could feel worried about the unknowns of what is to come. You can also find yourself grieving for the aspects of your life that that have already changed, such as the relationship you used to have and the future you thought you'd have, even while the person you care about is still here. These feelings are valid, and one of them take away from how much you care about them.

Counselling can give you somewhere to talk about what you're carrying without having to protect anyone else from how you're really doing. It's time specifically for you. Together, we can also work with practical, evidence-based approaches such as CBT and mindfulness to help with difficult thoughts and emotions, boundaries, coping, and finding ways to make things feel a little more manageable in an otherwise unimaginable situation. 

As a registered nurse and nurse psychotherapist (qualifying), this also means you don't have to spend half the session explaining the health-care system or medical terminology to me; that's part of what I do already. 

Virtual counselling for adults in Alberta whether you're in a small town, city, or rural community. Coffee or tea, comfy clothes and pets welcome (and encouraged).