HELPERS & HEALERS.

Caring for others can be highly rewarding. It can also be highly distressing. Helpers and healers are trained medical professionals as well as untrained family and friends. Psychotherapy can provide the space you need feel heard, validated, supported, and understood.

Since 2019, I have worked as a clinical mental health counselor in Winston Salem, North Carolina at Wake Forest Baptist Health, providing psychotherapy and bereavement counseling services to caregivers and healthcare providers.

In my private practice, I provide confidential counseling to clients taking care of elderly parents, spouses, and adult children living with debilitating illness.

Often, I am told that I am the only person they feel safe sharing their feelings about their caregiving role. I also provide confidential counseling to physicians, surgeons, nurses, therapists, and body workers—all of whom are passionate about their jobs and the population they serve and are invested in building resilience and identifying self-care strategies to better serve their patients and clients.

Whether you are a physical or mental health provider having survived the impacts of COVID-19 on our healthcare system or one of 53 million unpaid family caregivers in American taking care of a loved one, I am here to support your well-being, validate your emotional exhaustion, and provide evidence-based techniques to reduce distress, burnout, and compassion fatigue in a confidential setting.

Family Caregivers and Changing Roles.

At its core, familial caregiving changes the nature of a relationship. Treatments for a life-threatening disease, recuperation from surgery, or dementia can upend roles previously held between parents and adult children, partners and spouses, and siblings. It can be very helpful to explore these changes and grieve your losses.

Provider Distress and Compassion Fatigue.

Provider stresses related to COVID-19 have shed light on how important it is for healthcare professionals to engage in counseling to reduce compassion fatigue, avoid professional burnout, and engage in wellness and mindfulness practices. 62% of nurses and 42% of doctors reported feeling burned out in their professions during the global pandemic.

WHAT DOES A therapy SESSION LOOK LIKE?

The first session is 55 minutes and gives you an opportunity to tell your story — you may work in a caregiver role at a hospital, hospice, dentistry, or veterinarian clinic or you may be a caregiver to a loved one. We will explore what brings you to therapy and what you hope to gain from counseling.

Regular sessions are 55 minutes and focus on the issues you bring and continue our discussions from prior sessions. I offer morning and afterwork hours to accommodate professionals’ strenuous work schedules.

During these sessions, you are the driver of your experiences. I listen closely with empathy and non-judgment. I pose questions, share observations, and actively engage you in a deeper exploration of your presenting topics to assist in finding a way to express your thoughts, feelings, and emotions in a safe and respectful manner.

WHAT TOPICS DO WE DISCUSS?

All topics are open for discussion, including moral distress, burnout, compassion fatigue, toxic work environment, guilt and anger, exhaustion, sorrow, anticipatory grief, and relational concerns. I encourage you to explore your fears, inhibitions, frustrations, and joys in life; and we work to identify ways to reduce your caregiver distress.

HOW MANY SESSIONS?

I recommend a commitment of at least 10 sessions, upon which we review progress and determine next steps together. You can terminate our work together at any time.

HELPFUL BLOG POSTS.

Entering the Role of Caregiver, Lightly

The Impact of a Cancer Diagnosis on Relationships