Hi, I'm Tanya, EICQ Coach for Family Caregivers.
It is a mistake of epic proportions to assume that caregiving "should" meet a caregivers need to feel good about her or his life. The result is burnout - exhaustion brought about by prolonged frustration. Recovery from caregiver burnout is not a matter of intermittant"self-care". It is a matter of renewed Energy and re-defining one's identity.
Family caregivers come to me because for all they do, they want this phase of their life to be experienced and remembered as life affirming and life forwarding.
For the first six years in the caregiving role I burned the candle at both ends desperate to hold onto my professional identity, that part of my life, where I knew what I was doing had a planned future. I burnt out. I stopped functioning.
Lucky for me, as an organization change professional I had the wherewithal and the tools to start my life over. I determined that I wanted my new life t