Episodes
Friday Oct 29, 2021
Rushing to The Side Of An Injured Soul
Friday Oct 29, 2021
Friday Oct 29, 2021
Famed anthropologist Margaret Mead shared that "…the first sign of civilization is compassion, seen in a healed femur." She backed her claim by explaining the amount of time and compassion from the tribe or community required to care for that individual – until able to resume normal activities.
"’ Survival of the fittest doesn’t include healed femurs.”
Caregivers live with significant injuries, as well. Injuries of the soul – that can cripple a person. Anyone who’s cared for a chronically impaired loved one cannot recover from such an experience without compassionate help from others. Just as we would rush to someone with a broken leg and respect the time needed for convalescence, caregivers need others to run their side, as well.
For many caregivers, trauma can extend far beyond a funeral. While many people are nice to caregivers, being nice is a learned behavior – not a sign of character. During and in the aftermath of caregiving, family caregivers need (and deserve) more than “nice.” They cry out for compassion and grace – and it may take a while.
Offering compassion and grace helps heal a caregiver – while simultaneously deepening the hearts of the ones extending those mercies.
“Teach me to feel another's woe, to hide the fault I see, that mercy I to others show, that mercy show to me.” – Alexander Pope
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Sunday Oct 24, 2021
Honoring an Abusive, Alcoholic Father
Sunday Oct 24, 2021
Sunday Oct 24, 2021
A caller named Bill once shared on our program for caregivers that his father was an abusive alcoholic for years. Now, Bill's father’s had a stroke and requires extensive care - but sadly still drinks. Bill went on to say that he’s although he’s over 50 with a wife and kids, he still feels like a terrified 9-year-old when he’s around his father.
Bill’s father made his own decisions – decisions that evidently did not involve a recovery plan.
I shared with Bill that he can only do his best, but his family needs the 50-year-old version of BILL —not the 9-year-old one. Bill’s well-being remains paramount to his family. To be blunt, his father’s well-being, while desirable, does not. Although it sounds harsh, the reality is Bill’s father may not make it, but Bill must. I commended Bill for working to ensure his father’s safety and care despite the trauma that man caused. But I also cautioned Bill on the importance of securing his own care and well-being by attending a recovery program for family members of alcoholics and even counseling. Honoring your mother father does not mean honoring alcoholism, addiction …or even abuse.
Friday Oct 15, 2021
We Can‘t Change the People Around Us, But ...
Friday Oct 15, 2021
Friday Oct 15, 2021
As caregivers, owe it to ourselves to inventory the voices with access to our hearts. Although caregivers often find themselves in heartbreaking circumstances or surrounded by those with criticism or other negative attitudes, we have the power to change that.
Recently talking with a man struggling while watching his wife slip away, I said, “You live in an environment permeated by approaching death. Balance that by immersing yourself into life.”
Knowing he has great-granddaughters close by, I suggested letting the attendants briefly look after his wife so he can spend time with those precious girls. “The life bubbling out of your great grandchildren provides a counterweight to your sorrow.’
We can’t change the people around us, but we can CHANGE the people around us.
From Your Caregiver Minute with Peter Rosenberger
If you find this episode meaningful, share it with others and help us do more by visiting www.hopeforthecaregiver.com/giving
Wednesday Oct 13, 2021
Caregiver Identity Theft
Wednesday Oct 13, 2021
Wednesday Oct 13, 2021
Individuals and family members show great wisdom when subscribing to various products and safeguards that protect against data breaches. Yet an overlooked “identity theft” exists for family caregivers. Virtually all caregivers find themselves struggling to speak in their voice.
If you find this podcast meaningful, please share it with others and consider helping us do more at www.hopeforthecaregiver.com/giving
Saturday Oct 09, 2021
Resistance Is Inevitable
Saturday Oct 09, 2021
Saturday Oct 09, 2021
While boundaries remain critical to healthy relationships, they sometimes develop on faulty information or impaired thinking. Caregivers inevitably collide with such boundaries while caring for loved ones. These flawed boundaries may look like resisting rehab for injuries and/or addiction issues, refusing medications, respecting others’ time, or a whole host of other issues.
Confronting those disputes requires deftness and wisdom from caregivers—particularly when a loved one is “dug in” behind years of stubbornness. Sometimes, all that’s needed is to clearly explain consequences of behaviors.
But when confronting someone with addiction or impairment issues for example, all many caregivers can do is provide buffers to minimize the damage while remaining at safe distances as circumstances deteriorate. In other cases, a caregiver must often bite her tongue and learn to like the taste of blood as a loved one experiences the outcome of stubbornness.
Trying to force a solution against the will or boundaries of another usually ends in conflict and failure. Despite resistance or even desired results, we can learn to be at peace with our powerlessness over others’ boundaries—and instead focus on maintaining our own.
www.hopeforthecaregiver.com
Friday Jul 10, 2020
Your Caregiver Minute: "Don't Believe Everything You Think"
Friday Jul 10, 2020
Friday Jul 10, 2020
Peter Rosenberger is the host of HOPE FOR THE CAREGIVER. The nation's #1 broadcast and podcast show for family caregivers, Peter draws upon his 34+ year journey as a caregiver for his wife, Gracie, through a medical nightmare that includes 80+ surgeries, multiple amputations, and treatment by 100+ physicians.
Learn more at www.HopefortheCaregiver.com
Thursday Jul 09, 2020
Your Caregiver Minute: "Take Time for Stillness or Make Time for Illness!"
Thursday Jul 09, 2020
Thursday Jul 09, 2020
Peter Rosenberger is the host of HOPE FOR THE CAREGIVER. The nation's #1 broadcast and podcast show for family caregivers, Peter draws upon his 34+ year journey as a caregiver for his wife, Gracie, through a medical nightmare that includes 80+ surgeries, multiple amputations, and treatment by 100+ physicians.
Learn more at www.HopefortheCaregiver.com