Judithmft

Member since September 24, 2008

Bio

I am a psychotherapist in Northern California working primarily with people with developmental disabilities and their families.  Since January of 2007 I have also been helping care for my father, who has Alzheimer's, since my step-mother's unexpected death.  My sister, brother and I make a great care team, and I live 15 minutes from my father so have the greatest face to face contact.  I manage his housekeeping, home care aides and health care, while my sister manages finances, and my brother pitches in wherever we need him.  My father has pre-existing mental health issues that complicate the Alzheimer's, and like many people is in a lot of denial about his decline.  He is also very active and creates a lot of chaos in his life.  A good chunk of my job as a caregiver right now is to support the home care aides so that they can have the stamina to continue working with him.  It's a challenging journey, often very stressful, but also offering me many opportunities to work with my own issues and find growth and healing.