Many of you are probably familiar with Dr. Gary Chapman’s timeless bestseller, “The 5 Love Languages”.  Originally published in 1992 and updated many times since, Dr. Chapman’s premise is that couples who understand each other’s “love language” have a distinct advantage because they are able to effectively communicate with the people with whom they are...Read More

Overwhelmed.  It is the most common word that I hear within the first sentence of nearly every telephone call that I receive from a prospective client.  It is a loaded word – one filled with feeling, with emotion.  When used in the context of talking with me, the word takes on a negative meaning, as...Read More

I was recently wearing my family transition coach hat in a case with a woman who was undergoing a series of significant life transitions all at once – physical symptoms including weight loss and musculoskeletal pain, a divorce, and loss of a job.  As overwhelming as all of that sounds, and it was, perhaps the biggest challenge...Read More

Choosing a provider to assist you or your loved one at home is never easy.  Often, the home health aide will be in full charge of the household for their care recipient in addition to providing personal care.  So how do you find the right provider? The first step is to correctly identify the needs...Read More

Often, family members are faced with the decision regarding whether a loved one should move directly from a rehab facility to assisted living or whether they are better off to come home for a short time in between.  As with so many decisions involving older adults, it depends.  It depends on the five considerations of...Read More

Those of you who read this column regularly know that I’m a big believer in planning ahead. I advocate creating a Family Transition Plan that organizes all of your affairs in an “owner’s manual” to make it easy for your loved ones to carry on when you can no longer do so for yourself. Recently,...Read More

The role of family caregiver is filled with emotions, both joyful and trying. Yet as anyone who has served in this role for a spouse, parent, or other family member or close friend knows, it is the negative emotions associated with caregiving that seem to have the biggest impact in the moment. When working with...Read More

One of the more stressful parts of caregiving is the worry about how to pay for it. Planning ahead can help, as can creating a caregiving budget. Of course, once you create your budget you need to stick to it! As a rule of thumb, if you’re thinking ahead you’re making a plan while if...Read More

A just published book for adult children and their aging parents is “The Daughter Trap: Taking Care of Mom and Dad … and You” by Laurel Kennedy. This is a valuable resource for all adult children, daughters and sons alike. Ms. Kennedy bases her work on hundreds of interviews with baby boomers in the thick...Read More