Therapeutic Journaling through Caregiving

Lori Ramos Lemasters shares how she relied on therapeutic writing as one of her coping strategies through her 8-year caregiving journey. Lori was caregiving for her mom who had suffered a massive stroke, and that meant Lori also took on caregiving responsibilities that her mom had been shouldering for Lori's step-dad who was on dialysis for three of those 8 years. And to do this Lori didn't hesitate to relocate to another State away from her own family.

Using therapeutic writing, or journaling to process her emotions helped her turn the challenges of caregiving into a positive caregiving experience which she now looks back on as a beautiful experience. She has become a certified Journal to the Self ® Therapeutic Writing Instructor and teaches the techniques she found so useful for her own journey, including the Unsent Letter, Perspective Write and Character Sketch along with tips and prompts to help get folks started journaling.

In addition to the journaling, Lori offers tips to caregivers including ways to reengage folks into a support team and having a list available of tasks folks can choose from when they offer to help - as accepting help is vital when caregiving, and Lori's book title "You're a Caregiver, Not a Saint: Yeah, Write!" reminds caregivers that they don't have to be a saint and do everything themselves.

Lori is the founder of Care Partners Resource and Consulting and is a writer, with publications under the last names of Lemasters and Cavallo. She has partnered with many local and national organizations to teach therapeutic journaling to caregivers. She created Caregivers Tuesday Talks Outside the Box and in conjunction with AARP Care-FULL Conversations both are available on Care Partners Resource YouTube Channel. You can obtain a copy of Lori’s book from Amazon or through her website where you can also check out her many resources and links to social media.