What is Happiness and Can You Buy It?
Dr. Tim Lau, geriatric psychiatrist at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health unit has been speaking all around the country on the topic of happiness...so much so that he now has the moniker 'The Happiness Doctor'. He has looked in-depth at the whole idea of happiness and...
I’m a Professional Caregiver – and You’re Not!
It's really important to be professional and aim for excellence in your chosen field or occupation. But each profession has its Achilles heel...where professionalism become 'professionalitis'. We've all experienced it - where the treatment we receive makes us feel...
Avoiding Caregiver Burnout
Caregiver burnout is a serious problem. Individuals usually are thrown into the caregiving scenario with not a lot of warning. It’s not like when you are going to have a baby – you have nine months to wrap your head around that fact – make your plans – and prepare...
Can Caregivers Be Friends
For a friendship to be real it has to have certain characteristics: it has to have honesty and respect...recognition of the essential goodness of the other and a desire to share one’s inner thoughts and ideas. It also has an element of receiving the other. To be a...
Will It Happen To Me?
I think each of us grapple with our own mortality when our parents start to struggle with their health. And when the disease has a genetic component to it one of the greatest fears that niggle at the back of your mind is ‘will it happen to me?’ That is a big ‘niggle’...
Being “Real” as a Caregiver
We use masks to cover our insecurities and wounds, often placing a mask between our inner world and our outer world. What we share with others is carefully contrived to conform to a view of ourselves that we want the world to see. This is particularly true of...