Are you a caregiver supporting someone with this toolkit?
As a caregiver, you may have a different understanding of the information you’ve read. It’s important to be mindful that this toolkit is ultimately to support your family member in developing personal agency, this involves them taking responsibility for the things that are happening in their lives (both good and bad).
To support this process, their interpretation and understanding of information should come first, with you stepping in to guide them away from internalizing misinformation. Be easy on yourself.
You may find that ongoing mood checking can be helpful in understanding how situations make you feel, taking the space to consider how you feel is a tough task as being a caregiver can be very stressful. It’s important for you to take time to do things that bring you joy and reduce the burden you may feel. When you’re happy or content, you are in a better headspace to be there for your family member and care for them in a meaningful way.
Feelings of calmness and comfort are subjective, what feels comfortable to you may not feel comfortable to someone else. Have a conversation together about what you need to feel calm, and what lifts your mood.
Work together to define and create a space where you can relax and work through this toolkit. You may find it helpful to write things down outside of the activity templates and worksheets. You should both keep separate journals, and not push each other to share what you write. The journals are meant to be personal and a safe space to write down how you feel, separate to the activities in this toolkit.
As a caregiver, journaling is a good way to reduce stress and begin to see patterns. It’s easy to lose yourself as a caregiver because so much of your time and energy is focused on your loved one and their day-to-day needs. Their well-being typically comes before yours, and its important to take the time to understand how you feel about situations and be able to identify patterns. This process can help you simplify and or get rid of things that don’t contribute positively to your day-to-day.
