Caring for Yourself While Caring for Others
If you’re a caregiver, you already know that showing up for someone else can be both meaningful and exhausting. Whether you’re supporting a partner with chronic pain, parenting a child with a medical condition, or caring for an aging parent with ongoing needs, the reality is the same: your care matters, but it can also come at a cost.
You may find yourself putting your own needs aside without even realizing it. You might feel stretched thin, emotionally worn down, or quietly resentful, and then guilty for feeling that way. You might tell yourself that others have it harder, that you should be grateful, that you’re “doing fine.” Until you’re not.
If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Caregiver fatigue is real. So is burnout. And so is the complicated grief that often comes with loving someone who is unwell.
When Caregiving Becomes Everything
Many caregivers we work with never planned to be in this role. It just happened, slowly, then all at once. A diagnosis. A crisis. A slow progression of symptoms. And before long, your life starts revolving around someone else’s needs, routines, and appointments.
The shift can be so gradual that you don’t notice how much you’ve given up: free time, career opportunities, sleep, friendships, hobbies, quiet mornings, weekends. It’s hard to name those losses when you love the person you’re caring for. But they’re still losses. And naming them isn’t selfish. It’s honest.
The Emotional Weight of Care
Being a caregiver often comes with an emotional load that’s hard to talk about. You might feel:
Guilt for wanting a break
Grief for the life you used to have
Anger at the unfairness of it all
Fear about the future
Loneliness from feeling like no one really gets it
These feelings are normal. And therapy gives you a space to feel them without judgment.
What Therapy Can Offer Caregivers
Therapy is one of the few spaces where you don’t have to be the strong one, the steady one, or the one holding it all together. You get to show up as you are.
Working with a therapist can help you:
Make sense of what you’re feeling
Set boundaries that protect your own wellbeing
Learn tools for managing stress, guilt, and resentment
Process grief or anticipatory loss
Connect to parts of yourself that may have gone quiet
Remember that you matter too
You don’t have to stop caring for others in order to care for yourself. But you do need room to exist outside of that role.
You Deserve Support Too
At Nashville Therapy Group, we work with many people who are navigating life as caregivers, sometimes by choice, sometimes by necessity, always with courage. If you’re carrying a lot, we see you. And we’re here to support you too.
We Are Here For You
Emily Ladyman
Chronic Illness & Chronic Pain Program Director
Supporting someone with a chronic condition can be overwhelming, isolating, and exhausting. You don’t have to navigate it alone. Our Chronic Illness & Chronic Pain program is led by compassionate specialists who understand the layered realities of your experience and are here to walk alongside you with care and insight.
When you’re ready, reach out to us. We’d be honored to help you heal.
