Is Balancing Work-Home-Caretaking-Yourself Supposed to Be This Hard?
You likely never thought that midlife would be like this: feeling overextended, pulled in a million directions, managing your children's and parents' schedules simultaneously, in constant go-mode... Maybe you dreamed of what midlife would be like: more financial freedom to travel, learn new hobbies, or spend more time with partner(s)/friends. All of a sudden, you might be managing your own children's sporting events while estate planning, and endless doctor's appointments from afar. Each time you think about what having some space would feel like, you may feel guilty and ashamed.
My clients simply want to find balance throughout their days and create intentional time for themselves, rather than leaving whatever leftover time at the end of the day that never seems to materialize. They want to share the responsibilities with other family members and trust that they will follow through on what needs to be done without having to do it all. Many of my clients come to me because they are stuck in an all-or-nothing rut and fear they may not have the motivation to get out of it.
How I can help
Most of my clients are struggling to balance the role shift that midlife can bring: you may have been the daughter who was taken care of, and suddenly you are taking care of a parent. You may be a parent caring for your own children while also taking care of older loved ones. Therapy may be for you if:
- you’re struggling to trust other people to follow through on their responsibilities
- anger, guilt, and resentment seem to be your baseline caregiving emotions
- you feel like you’re treading water with all of these roles, and it’s impacting other aspects of your life
- memories from your upbringing are starting to surface and negatively affect how you show up
- thoughts of what will happen when your loved ones are no longer living start to surface, and you feel a sense of fear
- you have forgotten how to be with yourself
My goal for my clients is to help you work through the things keeping you stuck people-pleasing while creating a space for you to understand this important role you have taken on. I want to help you sort out the external factors that impact your internal languish, understand your thought patterns with gentle reframing, and learn how to respond to your body’s cues with mindful practice. I want to help women cut through the noise of societal messaging to start authentic, sustainable healing. Therapy for overextended, caretaking women is not:
- me telling you that you are too type A and need to fix yet another thing
- me telling you that you are the only thing holding everything together, and without you, it will all fall apart
- you getting all the answers in one session, and everything is magically fixed
We’ll meet for your initial intake session to get a sense of what your needs are and where I can help. I feel energized to help clients who want to explore how to round out some of their edges, build resilience, and learn where to release control. People who want to get curious, dig deep, and get expansive about their future relationship with themselves. What we process in therapy is 100% confidential. You may feel unsure initially, but you get to set our pace, choose what you discuss, and how we approach therapy is up to you. I will help you to learn how to turn inward, spend time coming to understand all of your complexities, and help you find a way forward, becoming unstuck.