You'll find Paula won't tell you what to do, she will listen with her ears and her heart & will help you find the best path for yourself.
If you don't take care of yourself, you will be physically & emotionally unable to care for anyone else. Taking care of the caregiver is something I've finally learned to do for myself. It makes a huge difference in how I view myself, my responsibilities, my life, and my world.
You may not have planned to be the caregiver of your loved one, but that doesn't mean you need to suffer through the process. Living a life of joy and fulfillment while caring for a loved one is possible, but it takes self-care, intention, commitment, and trust in the process.
This is where an introduction would go for the program. A welcome video sharing a brief background about the course, its mission, and the WIIFM will help to build excitement and loyalty to complete the course with your audience.
This module is designed to help you look at your story, the story you tell yourself and others about your caregiver journey. As caregivers, we each have a story to tell and, over the entirety of the course, your story may begin to change. It may become a powerful, inspirational story that serves you and everyone who hears it. The idea that the story can change is very foundational to the success of the rest of this program.
By the end of this module, you'll begin to listen to your own story and start to ask, is it about hope and joy or about weariness and sadness? You’ll imagine what others learn about you when they hear your caregiver's story. And you’ll start to consider how YOU might change if you were to change that story you tell.
Objective 1 -
Listen to your own story. Is it about hope and joy or about weariness and sadness?
Objective 2 -
Imagine what others learn about you when they hear your caregiver story.
Objective 3 -
Consider how YOU might change if you were to change the story you tell.
This module will help you get to the specific “pain points” you encounter as a caregiver. Each of us responds differently to the responsibilities of being a caregiver. We reach our limits over different events or circumstances. Knowing your limits, learning your point of “overwhelm” is essential for finding a way through the challenges and toward a richer understanding of your own needs.
Often we’re so focused on the needs of those in our care that we assume our own needs don’t matter or don’t take priority. In this module, we’ll examine what those personal needs are and begin to develop some self-care plans for addressing those “pain points” from our own experiences as caregivers.
Objective 1 -
Consider the events or circumstances that test your patience or wear you down.
Objective 2 -
Notice how you’ve changed since becoming a caregiver – what do you miss about your life?
Objective 3 -
Imagine how different life might be if you did not feel like a victim of your circumstances.
Boundaries are essential to both integrity – being honest with others about who we are – and inviting empathy. Others cannot understand us or appreciate what we’re going through if we hide behind euphemisms and tell others, “I’m fine” when clearly, we’re NOT fine. Boundaries are the most sincere form of defining our space, our needs, our priorities and our essential limits.
There is a mythology out there that caregivers can be all things to all people – and that’s simply not true. You can only be who you are. You can only give from what you have. You can only engage in a caregiving relationship to the extent that you can replenish your own resources. Finding our limits and claiming healthy boundaries helps us do just that.
Objective 1 -
Imagine that boundaries enable you to make it clear where you begin & end – and where others begin & end as well – so identities aren’t merged.
Objective 2 -
Consider where a clear boundary might serve your needs – how could it allow you the space, time, or privacy you need?
Objective 3 -
Trust that boundaries are less about separating and more about allowing empathy to emerge.
We often return to the same well for the cool, fresh water we enjoy! That’s only human. But sometimes, on the caregiver’s journey, the familiar places where we’ve known joy in the past are no longer available to us. This often makes us sad, but it is critically important that we seek out new sources of joy.
Too often, we languish in the disappointment that old friends no longer visit or barely understand what we’re going through. We grieve the losses of old pleasures and pastimes because they’re not accessible to us anymore. We find ourselves less social, more isolated, and often very, very sad. This is why it is important to rediscover our capacity to find joy in new places.
This module will help you identify simple pleasures, small joys that can fill the space that loss has left behind and allow you to thrive again with a renewed sense of joy in your everyday life.
Objective 1 -
Imagine that you will discover new places and opportunities for joy if you open your mind to them.
Objective 2 -
Consider that old, familiar “joys”may or may not be evident in your life just now – can sadness and joy co-exist? Discover how they might!
Objective 3 -
Trust that you have the capacity to discover joy even if your current circumstances are sad or filled with grief.
Even in the midst of anguish (which can be a part of the caregiver’s journey), there is a need to practice gratitude. Gratitude renews our spirit, re-wires our nervous system, and opens fresh avenues for us to experience joy and connection. Gratitude amplifies joy and reminds us that even when life is hard, good surrounds us. Even when despair is pressing in, there is something we can be grateful for.
Scientifically, gratitude has many impacts on the human spirit. It relieves anxiety, restores calm, and permits a fresh perspective on the world. Gratitude is a portal to many important emotions, and gratitude practices are tools we all need as caregivers to survive the journey! In this module, we’ll explore sever kinds of gratitude practices you can incorporate into your daily life.
Objective 1 -
Notice what’s changed for you over the modules of this course – can you list these changes?
Objective 2 -
Consider the tone of voice in your head now. Is it a joyful voice or an unhappy voice?
Objective 3 -
Examine what lifts you up, makes you bright, or brings you joy throughout your day.
Objective 4 -
Discover how gratitude, as an important self-care tool, can magnify your joy.
By the time you get to module 6, you will discover that you’ve begun to build a rich and reliable self-care toolkit. In it are your capacity to reimagine your story as a caregiver, name those experiences or events that overwhelm you, set strong and healthy boundaries that permit your authenticity to shine through, and discover new joys which you’ll amplify with your daily gratitude practices.
These are essential tools for thriving as a caregiver. They pave the way for genuine transformation and allow you to be someone who knows the experience of being overjoyed, not merely overwhelmed in your heart-felt work to care for others.
Objective 1 -
Recognize the range of self-care tools available to you
Objective 2 -
Acknowledge self-care as a path to transformation
Objective 3 -
Invest in a self-care plan that is neither self-indulgent nor selfish but built on intentional self-preservation.
As you have discovered in this course, the self-care journey as a caregiver is ongoing and requires commitment, but it will result in more joy and fulfillment in your role and life.
I have a few departing thoughts for you as you continue on this transformation and extremely important work.
Caregiver & Retired Physician
If you’re struggling with your caregiver role and find yourself becoming someone you really don’t want to be – angry, irritated, easily upset, this course is for you!
If you’re constantly disappointed in others because they minimize your burden or give you advice rather than help, this course is for you!
If you’re hoping to emerge from your caregiving role (whatever that may entail) with a sense of joy, confidence, and satisfaction in the effort you made and the work you’ve done to support a loved one, this course is for you!
Clients usually discover me when they feel like they’re at the end of their rope – I’m hoping that this course will give you insight into actions you can take so that you avoid that sense of overwhelming exhaustion from caregiving and can build a strong and useful self-care toolkit that will enable you to prosper in your caregiver role and in your life!
Coaching is always available, but if you need to start with a smaller commitment, this course is for you!
Not right for you?
6 Video Lessons
Each module contains worksheets to help you take action on that module's lesson
A Private Community for participants
One-time Investment: $375
Payment Plan Option: $125 monthly x 3 months
You deserve to feel supported, too.
Overwhelmed to Overjoyed is the perfect program for you if you find yourself in a caregiver role and are struggling to take care of yourself in the process, whether that's a lack of energy, making time for things outside of caregiving, or something else.
If you are a part-time or full-time caregiver to a parent, child, family member, or anyone else, this program is for you.
When you sign up for Overwhelmed to Overjoyed, you'll have immediate access to the whole course.
Please take your time and work through the 6 modules in order but at your own pace.
But I know you're busy and you may want to revisit any module. You are free to do that!
Yes, you can join Overwhelmed to Overjoyed with a one-time payment, or choose the 3-payment plan option.