SCALE Program (Supporting Caregiver Awareness, Learning and Empowerment)

Presented by OCO / OSANO

Week 4: How Caregivers can Manage Sadness & Guilt (March 1st)

Explore the feelings that drag you down and keep reminding you that you aren’t doing enough and about the cognitive distortions that keep you in the shame-cycle.

Understand different caregiver’s experiences of sadness and guilt. Learn about the signs of guilt and the common themes often associated with guilt as a caregiver. This session will help you differentiate between two coping pathways: (1) thoughts and (2) emotion. Too often we face cognitive distortions, the sneaky ways your mind convinces you of something that isn’t really true. Learn to identify and unpack these cognitive distortions that you may be having as a caregiver like “I should be able to care for her on my own at home” or “I’m a failure as a daughter.” We will question these negative thoughts and ask, “is this 100% true?”. We will also explore the emotion of sadness and the triggers that cause it, including the grieving process.