Caring for the Carer
I support parents and carers in neurodiverse families to feel strong and well. Being a carer can be challenging in so many ways, and I would love to use my lived experience and professional training to support you in a safe and welcoming therapeutic space. By looking after your own wellbeing and learning new strategies, we can help everyone thrive.
Being a carer for a loved one can be lonely, overwhelming, confusing, and exhausting. They say that children don’t come with an instruction manual, and things get more complicated when neurodiversity is added to the mix. Luckily the supports for our beautiful neurodivergent children are getting better all the time, but carers can feel like they are being left behind. A carer’s wellbeing becomes so intertwined with the wellbeing of the whole family, that it can feel as if you’re losing your identity, using every ounce of strength to get through the day and make sure that everyone else’s needs are being met. Yet to look after everyone else, you have to put the oxygen mask on yourself first (it’s a cliché, but true). When you are strong and well, you can not only support everyone else, but the family just ‘works better’ as a unit, is stronger, and can become a safe haven for everyone.
This is why I focus on supporting carers as individuals in their own rights. Being a carer can feel like doing an often un-seen, un-paid, thankless task away from the rest of society. And yet Carers Victoria estimated that in 2020 it would have cost the Victorian government $77.9 billion to replace carers with paid services. I believe that carers deserve to be seen. I believe that they have the same right to support as every other person. I believe that carers have the right to live rich and fulfilling lives. At Nurture Our Nature Counselling I offer you a safe and therapeutic space to gather your strength and look after your own wellbeing and happiness.
While we can take a solution-focused approach to improve your situation, you may just want to vent, to talk about your own feelings. That is absolutely fine as well – as a fellow carer, I understand the overwhelm, exhaustion, carer-guilt, burn-out, confusion, struggle with organisations and official entities. You name it, I’ve felt it, so rather than being limited to surface-level understanding of what you’re going through I’m right there beside you. Combined with my professional training and counselling skills I use my lived experience to provide a safe therapeutic space for you to be in. Contact me for a free 15-minute chat so we can see if we’re a good fit for each other.
