NOVEMBER THEME: COLLABORATION

"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much."

- Helen Keller

Caregiving can feel incredibly isolating. As caregivers, particularly mental illness caregivers, we can sometimes feel as if we do not have the right to tell our stories since they are really our loved ones' stories of living with mental illness or other chronic and serious illnesses. Additionally, when surrounded by people we feel "do not understand," it's easy to feel judged or shamed for our choices. Finding a space where we can be vulnerable or authentic can be challenging and, at times, feel downright impossible.

Fortunately, we are not alone. Courage to Caregivers is dedicated to bringing together caregivers to create a community of CARE. We are here to support you - as a caregiver - as YOU - in your personal growth journey towards greater health and well-being. When you take care of yourself (too), you provide better care to those you love.

This month, we have explored how we can better collaborate with those around us through MANAGING our perceptions, AVOIDING comparing and despairing, and FINDING gratitude. Remember, you are never alone.

3 TOOLS FOR COLLABORATION:

Practice Active Listening - By listening to understand rather than to respond, we can better connect with those around us.
Be Empathetic - By feeling "with" others rather than "for," we can more strongly understand where people are coming from.
Ask for What You Need - By being specific about what we need from the people who want to be there for us, we can help others in supporting ourselves.

"A good collaboration pushes the boundaries of both partners."

- Neil Blumenthal

THEME AFFIRMATIONS
Use affirmations to inspire you or reframe your thoughts

I lead with love when managing my perceptions
The only person worth competing with is myself
I make space for gratitude every day
When I collaborate with others, we all become stronger

APPS FOR GUIDED MEDITATION

Understood - This website helps provide support to people with learning and thinking differences through advocacy, community, and resources.
Medito - This ad-free app provides sleep resources, walking meditations, and more for no cost at all forever!
Appreciation Jar - While originally made for couples, this app allows you to privately share words of gratitude with your loved ones.
Kindness - This app connects people around the world through acts of kindness, allowing you to support your own well-being as well as those around you.

PODCASTS

How to Let In New Perspectives - This podcast episode explores how we can let in new perspectives.
How To Show Up For Yourself - This short podcast episode provides a quick grounding exercise that can help relieve us in moments of stress.
Tap into the Joy That Surrounds You - This short podcast episode shares a brief exercise we can do to find joy around us.

Why We Need Friends With Shared Interests - This podcast episode examines how we can build strong support networks.

BOOKS

No One Gets to Fall Apart - This memoir by Sarah LaBrie explores the history of mental illness within her family and herself.
Shred Sisters - This novel by Betsy Lerner explores the relationship between two sisters following a devastating hurricane.
Gather Me: A Memoir in Praise of the Books That Saved Me - This memoir by Glory Edim explores the books that gave her a safe place during a tumultuous childhood.
Wild Chocolate: Across the Americas in Search of Cacao's Soul - This book by Rowan Jacobsen examines the people and communities involved in reviving wild cacao.

ARTICLES

5 Tips for Managing Unconscious Bias at Work - While this article focuses on managing perceptions in the workplace, the tips the article provides can be useful in many situations!
Compare and Despair: How to Stop the Cycle of Comparison - This article provides five steps we can take to avoid harmful comparisons and remember that we’re worth it!
Gratitude: The Benefits and How to Practice It - This article explains how practicing gratitude can be beneficial and what we can do to bring gratitude into our lives.
3 Psychological Barriers to Creative Collaboration - This article explains what we can do to overcome various barriers to productive creative collaboration.

As November is National Family Caregivers Month (NFCM), we wanted to share with you several resources made specifically to support and celebrate caregivers like you:

Mental Health America's Caregiver Resources - MHA has a page dedicated to sharing resources, articles, and videos for caregivers.
Area Agency on Aging Family Caregivers Workshop - The Area Agency on Aging is hosting a virtual workshop on December 4,11am-12pm ET, for family caregivers. The workshop will discusses caregiver stress and self-care. Register by December 2nd!
Caregiver Action Network: Recognizing and Supporting Caregivers - Caregiver Action Network's page for NFCM shares caregiver resources and tools and ways for caregivers to connect with others and share their stories.
Do Something Mental Health Toolkit - This fun toolkit designed for adolescents provides helpful tips on how to support mental wellbeing.

The Wildflower Alliance is hosting several virtual workshops related to self-injury and voice-hearing. You can learn more and sign up below:

Harm Reduction Approach to Self-Injury - This two-day workshop is designed to help teach clinicians, friends, and family members how to support people who self-injure. The program runs from Monday, December 9, to Tuesday, December 10, 12pm-4pm ET.
6 Session Class: Working with Hearing Voices & Unusual Beliefs - This class led by Paranoia Network founder Peter Bullimore is designed to support people to make sense of their own experiences with voice hearing and unusual beliefs. The class will be held virtually from January 22nd to February 6th.

Caregiver Holiday Meet Ups are BACK! We know the Holidays can be an especially difficult time for unpaid family caregivers. We want you to know YOU ARE NEVER ALONE. We will be offering daily "meet ups" in Zoom, Monday through Friday, 12-1 pm ET - from Monday, December 2 through Tuesday, December 31. Come hang out with Kristi or Jenny (here's the Zoom link) - bring your lunch or a hot beverage and we'll be here to listen. No advance notice or RSVP needed - one of us will be hanging around in Zoom to be available. We hope you'll join us if you need to vent or share, are looking for someone to listen - OR you want to share Holiday wins - either way, we're there for YOU!

We recognize that the Holidays may be an especially difficult time for unpaid family caregivers. Our 2023 Fall Nonprofit Management Intern Rebekah created a special Holiday Self-Care Handout for caregivers in need of a little extra support this Holiday Season. You can download it here.

Our Funding Partners, the Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services (ADAMHS) Board of Cuyahoga County is offering tips on reducing extra stresses in its Coping with the Holidays booklet. The booklet is available on the ADAMHS Board website.

Coping with the Holidays offers suggestions on things like how to reduce stress, deal with loss or change and enjoy the holidays safely and on a budget. In addition, resource numbers are listed for those who find the stress of this holiday season too much to handle. The 24-Hour Warm Line is available at 440-886-5950. Peer-supporters will listen and talk you through things. In crisis, call or text 988.

December's Book Club will meet on Friday, December 13 at 11 am ET. We will be discussing the TedTalk "The Gift and Power of Emotional Courage" with Psychologist Susan David who shares how the way we deal with our emotions shapes everything that matters: our actions, careers, relationships, health and happiness.

December's theme is OUTLOOK. By finding inner calm, taking advantage of the opportunities and possibilities that come our way, and facing the darkness of the winter solstice, we can discover hope and relief in our lives. With micro-goals, it’s easier to take the next right step - as Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said, “A journey of a thousand miles, begins with a single step.” Check out December's Micro-Challenges Calendar here.

Courage to Caregivers Breathing Practice for December: Heart Focused Breathing

As we support caregivers to make breathing and meditation a practice, we're pleased to share our Breathing Meditation Facilitator Cathy and her monthly breathing practice how-to videos. You can join us for December's Breathing Practice - with this practice, we will find gratitude and calm through our hearts. This is a great breath to recognize the amazing love and power that comes from you. You can watch December's instructional video for Heart Focused Breathing here, and remember to subscribe to our 2024 Monthly Breathing Practices playlist to stay updated each month. You can also subscribe to our Breathing Meditation playlist, where we upload our weekly breathing meditation recordings, and follow along on our Spotify Breathing Meditation playlist.

The mission of Courage to Caregivers is to provide hope, support, and courage to caregivers and loved ones of those living with mental illness. We're in the caregiver burnout prevention business!