Move from feeling frustrated, overwhelmed and yes – sometimes frightened – to confident, balanced and supported in your caregiving journey
Are you among the more than one in five who’ve added non-professional caregivers for family and loved ones to the roles in our lives?
There are 5 overlapping phases in The Caregiver’s Journey:
The Caregiver’s Primer™:
What to do when we see caregiving on our horizon and when our journey first begins.
The Journey Begins With Me:
Understanding ourselves in a meaningful way so our personality, beliefs, values, and purpose support – not sabotage – us.
5 Steps to Confidently Navigate Your Caregiving Journey:
Navigating our journey as caregivers so we’re able to stay confident and balanced in any experience from the moments of joy – and they’re there – to making wise choices during challenging moments.
The Grace of Grief™:
Navigating grief in a healthy way during and after our caregiving experience so we don’t get stuck in grief and learn to move forward when our caregiving journey ends.
Moving Forward:
Reawakening and/or recreating who we are now that our caregiving journey has ended. Embracing and learning to live our best lives feeling good about ourselves as we move forward.
I know this journey
For more than forty years, I’ve navigated multiple journeys in roles of non-professional caregiving support for family and loved ones. Several of these include my grandmother, my father, and I’m currently in this role with my beloved husband, Jack.
I know it's a journey
I’ve been there when the diagnosis is given that no one and nothing can prepare us for. I’ve been there through every second of the journey. I’ve been there when their journey ends. I’ve learned to move forward. I’ve learned to thrive – as we’re all meant to.
I've struggled during our journeys
I’ve struggled when I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I’ve felt frustrated, overwhelmed and yes, sometimes frightened. I’ve felt helpless when I didn’t know where or who to turn to for help.
I've grieved
I’ve grieved during our journey. I’ve grieved after our journey. I know how easily grief can be weighed down by emotions that don’t serve it, that cloud our ability to actually grieve. I know this can prevent us from reawakening, from recreating ourselves after our loved one’s journey has ended because we’re stuck in grief and don’t know how to move forward.
I've learned about ME
I’ve learned how important it is for me to understand my natural way of viewing the world – under stress and in times of joy. I know how valuable it is for me to have the full potential and resources of my personality, beliefs, values, and purpose to support – not sabotage – me on our journey.
I've navigated all the roles
I’ve navigated all the roles of caregiving support both with my care receivers at home and in care communities. I’ve navigated the roles of support in partnership with the care teams.
I know each of our journeys is different
I know that while we each of us have unique experiences as we navigate the phases of our journey, we’re all in this journey together.
I know my journey now
Through massive acceptance and radical presence, through the lessons and a deep understanding of the journey, I’m now able to stay confident and balanced in any experience, able to embrace the beautiful moments with joy and to make wise choices with clarity in the challenging moments.
I know my mission
Be your guide. Teach you to navigate the phases of your journey faster and more easily than I did in the beginning. Teach you to feel good about your journey with your loved one and those around you. Teach you to feel good about yourself during and following your journey.
Whether you’d like to have a conversation, read my international best-selling book Our Journey of Love, 5 Steps to Navigate Your Caregiving Journey, have me speak or conduct workshops for your organization, or take one of the offerings of my The Caregiver’s Journey program, reach out to me at:
The Caregiver’s Journey Resource Page
Move from feeling frustrated and overwhelmed to feeling supported and balanced in your caregiving journey.
This online course teaches caregiving lessons, tips, strategies, videos, and exercises.
I’ve created a variety of options for you to learn, based on your goals.
- You can take the entire course on-demand and on your time.
- If you’re interested in being part of a community, I’ve created an option that includes discussion, role-playing and, for those of you who are interested, engagement in our online community.
- I’ve created an option that includes the first 2 options plus one-on-one coaching for your most customized experience.
In ‘The Journey Begins With You’, you’ll learn about yourself in a meaningful way including:
Famous author Anaïs Nin said:
“We don’t see the world as it is, we see it as we are”.
Seeing ourselves clearly empowers us to see the world around us more clearly.
“I’ve had the pleasure of welcoming Sue to our community and speaking with our population on the topics of caregiving and navigating physical and cognitive changes. Sue speaks with authority, is non-judgmental, and compassionate to the experiences of others. Several of our residents approached me after Sue has spoken and told me how much they loved Sue and the message she brought to them.
As someone who is still walking the caregiving journey, Sue is a beacon of light for those who fear the uncertainty that dementia brings. The message she delivers is one filled with hope, support and love. Her book, Our Journey of Love: 5 Steps to Navigate your Caregiving Journey, describes her experience and is a wonderful resource. I recommend her very highly for any endeavor she chooses to undertake.”
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Christine Douangsouri
Social Services Manager, Bentley Village
“We have known Sue for several years. Jack and Sue came at first just to find answers at the Alzheimer’s Support Network. They then began getting support from the various groups and our team.
As Sue says: “I would not be where I am on our journey, and I don’t believe Jack would be in as great a place as he is on his journey, without all the love, support and guidance you so compassionately and knowledgeably share.”
Sue is now giving back to the community and on a one to one basis.
She gives back because she’s walked the journey.”
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Debbie Fulton
Alzheimer’s Support Network
In her January, 2020 Ezine, Coach, Author, CSP, and CPAE Speaker Hall of Fame member, Mikki Williams, featured her review of Our Journey of Love, 5 Steps to Navigate Your Caregiving Journey.
Her review began with a quote from my book:
“Massive acceptance awakens me to the potential of my experience. Radical presence gives me clarity in the fullness of my experience.”
Mikki’s review states: “That beautiful, inspiring, contemplative quote was created by my cherished friend, Sue Ryan, truly one of the kindest persons on this earth. To be in Sue’s presence is to be blessed and inspired by the generosity of her spirit and by the manner in which she chooses to live her life. She wrote this book in the spirit of sharing her love and her truth.
Although Sue’s journey is grounded in her experiences with her Dad and her husband and Alzheimer’s, it is a book for us all. I was the sole care giver to my Mom in her late years, who was joyfully blessed with a very sharp mind till her passing…, just a failing body. One of the most challenging times of my life, yet one of the most rewarding. For most of us, we are or will be or have been care givers and this book is a soulful journey into all the feelings and thoughts experienced at the varied stages of this role. I encourage EVERYONE to read this book, to be inspired and to give it as a gift to ANYONE. It is simply timeless!”
“Each of us is a treasure in our world. When we know the gifts of our treasure, we transform our world by sharing them.
My passion is to help you find yours because someone is waiting on you for the limitless possibilities of the gifts only you can share.
Not why you, why not you?”
