Caring for the Caregiver is an online program, offered 1-2 times per year. It is not currently available. Please check back for information on our upcoming dates.

Are you caring for someone with chronic illness?

Let's take time to care for you.

Being a caregiver for someone with chronic illness has its own unique challenges that frequently are under-recognized, and can take a back seat to the struggles of the person with the illness. The physical and emotional demands of caring for a loved one with a chronic illness can be exhausting and lead to burnout, even in the most resilient people. If you are a caregiver, taking steps to care for yourself is one of the most important — and often forgotten — things you can do. When your needs are better met, you can provide optimal care to your loved ones. Join us for a 4-week program dedicated to caregiver support. Each week during this group experience, you will meet with a certified therapist and other people living as caregivers. We will explore what it means to be a caregiver, common issues and challenges experienced by caregivers, how to care for yourself, and more. This group is open to caregivers of CCFM patients, and we intend this to be an opportunity to come together with other caregivers so you can best support each other.

Who is a Caregiver?

A caregiver comes in many forms. Our program is open to all caregivers including:

  • Family

    Spouses, romantic partners, parents, siblings, and even children may serve as caregivers.

  • Friend

    Friends, neighbors, and coworkers often help care for someone they know with a complex or chronic health condition.

  • Professional

    Caregivers can also be healthcare professionals that have dedicated their careers to taking care of others.

We know caregiving means much more than the traditional definition. Caregivers come in many shapes and sizes, and so do their responsibilities. Caregivers provide help from regularly visiting with the person, to organizing supplements and meal prepping, managing finances, doctor's appointments, and more. If you support someone with a complex health condition, in any way, shape, or form, this group is for you.

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Welcome to the Group!

    • Welcome to Caring for the Caregiver

    • Please complete this survey.

    • Download the App!
  • 2

    Week 1: Self-Identifying as a Caregiver

    • Introducing Melissa Turgeon MPS, LPC, ATR-BC

    • Resources from Week 1

    • Breathing Exercise: 4-0-6-2 (Introduction)

    • Breathing Exercise: 4-0-6-2 (5 minutes, counting only)
  • 3

    Week 2: Grief and Loss

    • Self Compassion Inventory
  • 4

    Week 3: Self-Care for the Caregiver

    • Introducing Valerie Keim, MFT

    • How to Talk with Your C.I. Partner About Tough Topics (Handout)

    • How to Respond to Your CI Partner-Challenges (Handout)

    • Resources

  • 5

    Week 4: Reality Distortion: How well do you really get one another?

    • Caretaker's Life Grid

Instructors

MPS, LPC, ATR-BC

Melissa Turgeon

Melissa is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Board Certified Registered Art Therapist, and Certified Child Life Specialist. Adaptive Internal Relational Network (AIR) Therapist and EMDR Trained. Through a client-centered and compassionate lens, Melissa helps individuals find their way toward igniting curiosity and meaningful connections with themselves and others. You will learn about how to reshape regulation. She helps individuals create purpose, develop creative strategies to examine internal and external conflict, safely explore traumas, and move toward a sense of personal freedom and well-being. Melissa is an ally who uses a feminist multicultural, neuro-developmental, competency-based, and relational framework, which will gently invite individuals to explore personal values and develop an internal stance. Melissa’s practice is eclectically informed by art therapy, attachment theory, developmental neurology, and Polyvagal Theory. She believes you are wired for change. She has experience working with anxiety, depression, childhood trauma, medical trauma, neurodiversity, chronic illness, chronic pain, grief and loss, healthcare burnout, life transitions, and parent support. Her current practice includes individuals, adolescents, young adults, and adults. Melissa received her Master of Professional Studies in Art Therapy and Creativity Development from the Pratt Institute in May of 2006. Melissa is seeing clients via Telehealth.

MFT

Valerie Keim

A Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Valerie J. Keim, MFT has over twenty five year’s experience as a marriage counselor, psychotherapist, anxiety specialist, educator, and speaker. Valerie holds a Master’s degree in counseling psychology from the University of British Columbia. She is a member of the California Association for Marriage and Family Therapists.