Listen To My Latest Podcast Episode:
Cancer Caregiver Support: Caregiving & Bereavement Support with Ronni Levine, LMFT
Listen To My Latest Podcast Episode: Cancer Caregiver Support: Caregiving & Bereavement Support with Ronni Levine, LMFT
Helping aging parents move into a senior living or assisted living environment can be overwhelming, and emotions can easily escalate. Here are 12 tips for managing those emotions during difficult conversations with elderly parents.
Expect that this is going to be emotional. Know that it is reasonable that this is emotional and that there will be some fallout. Everyone is entitled to their feelings about this transition. Starting this discussion with the understanding that this will indeed be an emotional conversation will help you get through it.
Do a Dress Rehearsal
It can help to talk this conversation through with someone you trust before you bring it up with your loved one (like a dress rehearsal).
This has a couple of benefits:
Have you helped your loved one move to a senior living or assisted living community only to find that in the midst of experiencing relief that your loved one is being cared for and is safe, you also have intense feelings of guilt and shame?
You're not alone. Many caregivers struggle with guilt and shame after moving older loved ones into a senior living community. Perhaps you feel that you've let your older loved one down, like you're not being a dutiful spouse, daughter, or son. This can lead to emotional distress and discontent.
To help you navigate the emotionally turbulent waters of caregiver guilt and shame, I've prepared 5 strategies for helping you to move through guilt and shame when helping your older loved one adjust to senior living.
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There may come a time when you're faced with the conversation of talking with your aging parents about moving into a senior living or assisted living community. Many people dread this conversation.
Even simply starting the conversation can bring up all sorts of worry and feelings of guilt and shame.
If you're facing this situation, it can help to prepare. In today's episode, I share:
Starting these conversations long before your loved one has a medical, mental...
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When he was in his late 80s, Candy Cohn's father unintentionally stopped taking medication for a long-standing bipolar disorder and experienced a significant mental health crisis requiring hospitalization and intensive treatment. It was following this episode that Candy knew that she needed to help her older parents find a senior living community that would provide more continuity and medication management and offer opportunities for a better quality of life than they were getting at home. But, where to start?
I have witnessed many older adults living with significant mental health conditions, like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, at times struggle to find senior living communities.
There are some mental health conditions that are expected in assisted living environments, like depression and anxiety, which often occur with dementia and medical conditions. In fact, one in three residents takes a medication for a...
We’ve all heard stories of older adults on lock down in their long-term care community. Maybe you’ve even seen the images of family members visiting their loved ones separated by windows or glass. Like a granddaughter sharing her engagement ring, a son sitting outside talking on the phone with his dad inside his apartment, or a couple presenting their newborn to the grandfather.
As a Psychologist who specializes with older adults and families, and who provides a lot of education and training to long-term care communities, I have the unique opportunity to see into the inner world of the older adult living in a long-term care community, the concerned family member, and the long-term care community and it's staff as well.
In this episode, I explore the common emotional experiences during COVID-19 of older adults, their families, and the senior care communities they live in. And, ...
The idea of moving your aging parents in with you is complicated and if you're facing this possibility AND you're in a relationship, this can up the ante of complications.
A few weeks ago, I was featured in the Chicago Tribune in an article that had to do with how to go about making the decision to move your aging parents in with you! In today’s episode, I take a deeper dive into what to do if you and your partner don’t agree on moving your aging parents in with you!
Today, I wanted to dive a little deeper and talk about what to do if you and your partner don’t agree on moving your aging parents in with you!
You and your partner were raised differently. You had different parents, different family structures, different family systems, and different roles and values! Your relationship with your aging parents is unique and your partner’s relationship with their aging parents is unique as well. So...
The idea of moving your aging parents in with you is really complicated. If you're facing this possibility AND you're in a relationship, this can up the ante of complications.
A few weeks ago, I was featured in the Chicago Tribune in an article that had to do with how to go about making the decision to move your aging parents in with you! So, I decided to create a 3-part series on moving aging parents in with you!
The transition of moving aging parents in with you is not only practically challenging, it's emotionally REALLY COMPLICATED!! So, I thought it would be helpful to create an episode answering the question, "Why Is Moving Aging Parents in With You So Complicated?"
To answer the question, Why Is Moving Aging Parents in With You So Complicated? I have to discuss three complexities that you and your partner will indeed experience as you approach moving aging parents (or in laws) in with you!
A few weeks ago, I was featured in the Chicago Tribune in an article that had to do with how to go about making the decision to move your aging parents in with you!
In today’s episode, I take it a step further and share tips for moving your aging parents (or in-laws) in with you AND I talk about pros and cons to help you really think about this decision!
Today, I wanted to walk you through...
Sometimes, crisis strikes and you have to act fast. But, if you’re considering this move and there is no crisis, really take the time to think it through and be mindful each step of the way. This includes many conversations with your spouse and children. And, even many conversations with your parents (if they’re able). Maybe even...
Last week, I listed the various types of living environments for older adults, this week, I wanted to share exactly why you should know living options for your aging parents.
Why is knowing the different living options for older adults so important?
Here are are...
Watch it here, read it below, or do both!
1. Helps you to prepare...
You'll get tips for staying mentally and physically well during the Coronavirus Pandemic.