Guides
Signs of Caregiver Burnout When You Are Caring for Parents and Kids
When Everyone Needs Something
Caregiving can be intensely lonely. You are constantly thinking about somebody else’s health, safety, appointments, mood, medications, behavior, needs, or future. You may spend most of your day paying attention to another person while almost nobody asks how you are doing.
You may suddenly be expected to know how to do things nobody ever taught you. How do you bathe a grown person who used to bathe you? How do you manage medications, mobility, toileting, medical equipment, behaviors, appointments, paperwork, and emergencies while still trying to live the rest of your life?
What Strain Can Look Like
Caregivers also carry a lot of things that are difficult to say out loud. Fear. Anger. Resentment. Guilt about the resentment. Exhaustion. Grief. Love. Frustration. Sometimes all of those in the same day.
And sometimes the person you love is angry too.
A parent with dementia may be frightened, suspicious, or combative. A person whose mind is still fully present may be furious with a body that no longer cooperates. A disabled child may grow into an adult body while still needing substantial care and supervision. Every caregiving situation is different, but almost all of them ask people to do things they never imagined they would have to learn.
Some of those experiences are awkward. Some are messy. Some are frightening. And every once in a while, something is so absurd that it is funny.
Loss, Even When No One Is Dying
Caregiving also involves loss, even when no one is dying.
You can lose freedom, spontaneity, sleep, money, privacy, friendships, career opportunities, and years of your life. You may realize that you have not traveled, gone out, rested, or made plans because someone always needed you. Before you know it, years have gone by and you are not quite sure where they went.
That loss deserves to be acknowledged.
Sometimes caregiving does move toward death, and therapy can make room for the fear and grief that come before a loss as well as the grief that comes afterward. Other times caregiving lasts for decades. There may be no clear ending and no simple resolution. That kind of ongoing responsibility carries its own grief.
A Session Does Not Add Another Job
The systems that are supposed to help do not operate like one sensible system. Medical care, insurance, disability services, home health, schools, state programs, legal issues, transportation, benefits, and community resources may all have different rules, different phone numbers, different applications, and different people telling you different things.
I cannot promise that I can navigate all of that for you. I am not a social worker, and I will not pretend to know every program or every answer. But I can help you think things through, brainstorm, problem-solve, look at possible resources, and sometimes encourage you to keep trying when the system has worn you down enough that you want to quit asking.
More than anything, I can listen.
I can work virtually with adults located anywhere in Texas during sessions. In-home work may be possible around Killeen, Copperas Cove, and Temple if that setting fits, although privacy may be harder in a busy household. We can talk about where you could have enough space to speak freely.
Asking for a Conversation
I think caregivers need support because they are carrying a tremendous amount.
If this sounds familiar, send a general message through the contact page. Leave private health details out of the form. You can say that you are caring for both a parent and children and want to ask about therapy. I handle scheduling myself, and you can start with a free 15-minute introductory conversation if you'd like.
You do not need to wait until every responsibility has become impossible. You also do not need to prove that your strain is worse than someone else's. We can look at what your days are asking of you, what support is present, and what choices are yours to consider.
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