Therapy for Chronic Illness and Caregiving
You already know that your experience of your physical body and your mental health are connected. You also might notice that your experience navigating the medical system as a newly sick person, chronically ill person, or even as a caregiver for a loved one has an impact on your mental health too. Your anxiety spikes not just when you feel a headache coming on, but also when you get a reminder text from the specialist’s office about the appointment for which you waited 6+ months. You’re working as hard as you can to keep afloat while you juggle old and new responsibilities, yet the loneliness and overwhelm stick around.
I believe you about how your body feels. I believe you when you say you’re doing your best to maintain routines of health (whatever that means to you) and joy (or maybe sometimes just rest). I also believe that what you’re doing is incredibly hard work and is even harder to do alone. I will encourage you to listen to the wisdom that you already have and help you unearth new information about what your mind and body need to cope with unexpected and often unwelcome changes. Our work will bolster you through flare-ups and hard conversations, and guide you towards calm.
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Your experience of yourself may feel shaken when you’re coping with new symptoms, a new diagnosis (or two, or three), or just the daily practice of living in an ill body with unpredictable needs. That feeling is normal, but can be worked through as we focus on self-compassion, self-care, community care, and explore what resources might be available for you to feel more connected with yourself and your body. We will consider how you can best balance the demands and joys of daily life with your physical and emotional needs.
Through my previous work in primary care and sexual health settings, I have extensive experience in working with people experiencing a variety of health changes. Some examples of the most common health conditions that I’ve supported clients through include Epilepsy, FND, Migraines, Fibromyalgia, HIV, HSV, heart disease, IBS, Diabetes, post-COVID conditions, EDS/hEDS, POTS, and other auto-immune conditions.
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Many chronically ill people have experienced traumatic experiences within the very environments that are supposed to provide healing. These traumatic experiences often make it harder to feel safe or trusting in your own body, let alone to face medical appointments and make hard medical decisions. Using trauma-informed experiential and somatic approaches like EMDR we can address the hyper-vigilance and anxiety that makes your physical symptoms and emotional state worse. We can also bluntly explore how ableism and complex medical systems may create barriers to you getting the care you need from your providers, your support system, or even yourself.
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If you’re spending time caring for loved ones (especially children or parents) who are chronically ill or coping with a new change in health, you may feel that the emotional cup from which you pour to support others is running dry. Together we can bolster your internal resources and external supports so that you can show up as the caregiver you want to be while maintaining your own wellness and sense of self.