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Late Stage and End-of-life Alzheimer’s Care

Caregiving in the Final Stages of Alzheimer’s Disease

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In the final stages of Alzheimer’s disease, care priorities shift and the continuum of loss and release proceeds. The complex and often disorderly progression of this terminal disease now requires complete care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Even with years of experience, caregivers often find the last stages of Alzheimer’s disease uniquely challenging. Simple acts of daily care contrast with complex end-of-life decisions and profound bereavement. Learning to anticipate, remember, and reconnect can ease the journey through care and grief towards meaning, healing and wholeness.

In This Article:

• Understanding late stage needs
• Care and placement options
• Family planning
• Helping a loved one
• Coping with grief and loss
• Moving on after final stage care
• Related links

Understanding late stage Alzheimer’s care needs

In the later phases of Alzheimer ’s disease (AD), it becomes evident that in spite of the best care, attention, and treatment, your loved one is approaching the end of life. At this stage, a patient can no longer communicate directly, is totally dependent for all personal care, and is generally confined to bed. Unable to recognize once cherished people and objects, or to verbally express basic requirements, the person with Alzheimer’s completely depends on sensitive caregivers to advocate, connect, and attend to her needs.

Many caregivers finally acknowledge their own needs for significant help. This period may last from a matter of months to three years, and calls for revised strategies, tough decisions, and an expanded team. Understanding and anticipating these changes provides a framework from which to proceed.

Patient and caregiver needs in late stage Alzheimer’s care

• Practical care and assistance. Your loved one can no longer talk, sit, walk, eat, or make sense of the world. Routine activities, including bathing, feeding, toileting, dressing, and turning require total support and increased physical strength. Tasks are clear and prioritized, and can be supported by personal care assistants or physician-ordered nursing services.
• Comfort and dignity. Although cognitive and memory functions are depleted, the capacity to feel frightened or at peace, loved or lonely, and sad or secure remains. Regardless of location, the most helpful interventions are those which ease discomfort and provide meaningful connections.
• Caregiving support. The final stage care team might include home health agents, nursing home personnel, legal or financial advisors, hospice providers, and palliative care physicians. Working in advance with compassionate professionals to navigate systems, explore benefits, and weigh deeply-felt options can be extremely beneficial.
• Grief support. Anticipating your loved one’s death can produce reactions from relief to sadness to feeling numb. Experiencing these profound life changes can ease your loved one’s final journey and support your ultimate recovery and happiness. Consulting bereavement specialists or spiritual advisors before your loved one’s death can help you prepare for the coming loss.

Care and placement options in final stage Alzheimer’s disease

Advanced illnesses, physical safety needs, and the 24-hour demands of final stage caring often prompt additional in-home interventions or out-of-home placement. Although many caregivers want to keep their loved ones at home, this requires stamina, space, and considerable support from others.

Although there are no right or wrong answers, multiple changes can be especially difficult for a patient with advanced dementia. Adjustment to placement is easier before the end stage. Care and placement decisions should reflect the patient’s current needs, plans for her eventual death, and the caregiver’s health, financial, and emotional needs.

Fortunately, many resources are available to help you with placement and service options. See the related links section below, and contact your area Alzheimer’s Association for a care consultation.

Can you take care of the person with Alzheimer’s disease at home?

• Is qualified, dependable support available to insure 24 hour care?
• Will your home accommodate a hospital bed, wheelchair, and bedside commode?
• Are transportation services available to meet daily needs and emergencies?
• Is professional medical help accessible for routine and emergency care?
• Are you able to lift, turn, and move your loved one?
• Can you meet your other responsibilities and your loved one’s needs?
• Are you emotionally prepared to care for your bed-ridden loved one?

(Source: Adapted from The Loss of Self: A Family Resource for the Care of Alzheimer's Disease, Donna Cohen, PhD, and Carl Eisdorfer, PhD).

To evaluate other care and placement options, see Helpguide’s Choosing Senior Housing and Residential Care.

Family planning: decisions in late stage Alzheimer’s care

When patients with Alzheimer ’s disease (AD) reach the final stages, their caregivers have grieved physical, cognitive, and behavioral regression for years. Many struggle to make difficult treatment, placement, and intervention choices through a prism of continuous and profound loss. As your loved one’s serious decline becomes more evident, the skills and understanding cultured during caregiving can keep you engaged and committed.

End stage changes are often more difficult for family members than patients. Intricate and highly personal decisions can shift focus from comfort and dignity to unresolved personal or relationship issues. Following are tips for making patient-centered determinations in this last period of life:

·         Prepare early. The AD journey is eased considerably when placement, treatment, and end-of-life conversations are held in the first stages. Consider using the Five Wishes process to guide and formalize your discussion. Seek financial and legal advice while your loved one can participate. Consider hospice services, spiritual practices, and memorial traditions before they are needed. When caretakers simply implement their loved ones’ preferences, they are free to emphasize care and compassion.

·         Focus on values. If your loved one did not prepare a living will or advanced directives while competent to do so, act on what you know or feel his wishes are. Make a list of conversations and events that illustrate his views. To the extent possible, consider treatment, placement, and decisions about dying from his vantage point.

·         Address family conflicts. Family members vary in their capacities for emotional openness and expression. When stress and grief are heightened by a loved one’s deterioration and withdrawal, conflict may result. If you are unable to agree on living arrangements, medical treatment, or end-of-life directives, ask a trained doctor, social worker, or hospice specialist for mediation assistance. Prolonged disagreement can impact your ability to grieve and hamper your well-being.

·         Communicate with family members. Choosing a primary decision maker and a communicator to manage information facilitates family involvement and support. Even when families know their loved one’s wishes, implementing decisions for or against sustaining or life-prolonging treatments requires communication and coordination.

If children are involved, make efforts to include them. Children need honest, developmentally appropriate information about your loved one’s condition and any changes they perceive in you. They can be deeply affected by situations they don’t understand, and may benefit from drawing pictures or using puppets to simulate feelings, and hearing stories that explain events in terms they can grasp.

Helping a loved one in the final stages of Alzheimer’s disease

Insuring a loved one’s final years, months, or days are as good as they can be is not just a series of resource and care choices. Learning to live through grief, celebrate your accomplishments, and honor your loved one’s life will shape your emotions and determine your tasks.

Passage through the final stage of Alzheimer’s disease is affected by several factors: economics, family and friends, care options, and caregiver resilience. Ideally, the patient’s pain is well controlled, interactions acknowledge her remaining emotional presence, caregivers and other family members are supported, and there is time for a calm, peaceful goodbye. Your tasks may include the following:

Partnering to manage pain

Even in the last stages, patients with Alzheimer’s disease communicate discomfort and pain. Pain and suffering cannot be totally eliminated, but you can help make them tolerable.

Managing pain and discomfort requires daily monitoring and reassessment of subtle nonverbal signals. Especially when a dramatic decline in functioning occurs, families may choose to discontinue other medical interventions and focus on palliative care for the pain and symptoms associated with dying. With adequate help, this care can be provided at home.

Subtle, behavioral changes can signal unmet needs. Communicating written observations, times, and events to your medical team will provide valuable clues about your loved one’s pain status. The soothing properties of touch, massage, music, fragrance, and a loving voice can also reduce pain. Be open to trying different approaches and observe your loved one’s reactions.

Connecting and loving

Sharing human kindness through the final stages of Alzheimer’s disease takes many forms. Even when patients cannot speak or smile, their emotional memories remain.

Staying calm and attentive will create a soothing atmosphere and communicating through sensory experiences such as touch or singing can be reassuring to your loved one. Contacts with pets or trained therapy animals bring pleasure and ease transitions for even the most frail. Surrounding a loved one with pictures and mementos, reading aloud from treasured books, playing music, giving long, gentle strokes, reminiscing, and recalling life stories promote dignity and comfort all the way through life’s final moments.

Caring for yourself

As impossible as it may seem, taking care of yourself during your loved one’s final stages is critically important. Research shows spousal caregivers are more likely to experience despair while adult children find fulfillment through their caregiving roles. In any case, it is important to learn how to adjust, feel whole again, and move on

Coping with grief and loss as an Alzheimer’s caregiver

Ironically, the extended Alzheimer’s journey gives families the gift of preparing for, and finding meaning in their loved one’s end of life. When death is slow and gradual, many caregivers are able to prepare for its intangible aspects, and to support their loved ones through the unknown. Even with years of grief, others find themselves unprepared and surprised when death is imminent.

Talking with family and friends, consulting hospice services, bereavement experts, and spiritual advisors can help you work through these feelings and focus on your loved one. Palliative care specialists and trained volunteers assist not only on the dying person, but also caregivers and family members.

The end-of-life period, when body systems are shutting down and death is eminent generally lasts from a matter of days to a couple of weeks. Some Alzheimer’s patients die gently and tranquilly, while others seem to fight the inevitable. Reassuring your loved one it is okay to die can help both of you through this process. Decisions about hydration, breathing support, and other interventions should be consistent with your loved one’s wishes and advanced directives. 

Working Through Grief

Caregiving is a demanding, difficult job and no one is equipped to do it alone. Feelings of gloom, anger and despair may be reactions to loss. Recognizing grief and its potential for healing can help you through the final stages of Alzheimer’s care.

Read: Coping With Grief and Loss

Moving on after final stage Alzheimer’s care

From the moment of a loved one’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis, a caregiver’s life is never the same. It can, however, be happy, fulfilling, and healthy again. Replacing lost relationships, using your experience to help others, and gaining new perspective will help your return to normalcy.

Reconnect

• Join a caretakers’ bereavement support group. Being with others who know your situation, understand your emotions, and feel your suffering is good medicine.
• Enroll in an adult education class. Find a yoga, Tai-Chi, or Salsa class. Acquiring new skills and staying physically active will promote healing.
• Try a new community. Join a book club, volunteer, or start a neighborhood dine-around group. Your needs to enjoy, laugh, and connect continue after your loved one is gone.

Use your loss

• Create lasting tributes to your loved one. Consider memorial sites, scholarships, plaques, scrapbooks, quilts, art forms, benches and charitable contributions to honor her memory.
• Write a story, create a poem, make a tape. Share your loved one’s unique story with family members and other caregivers.
• Become a mentor. Contact your local Alzheimer’s Association and ask them to pair you with a brand new caregiver. Use your knowledge to help another.

Gain perspective

• Write your caregiver’s resume. List what you have learned and accomplished. By celebrating your considerable skills, you may discover a new avenue for work or expression.
• Keep a journal. Confront your loneliness and allow yourself to see your progress through the healing process.
• Talk to a therapist or grief counselor. Giving yourself permission to find new meaning and relationships can be difficult, but you have earned health and happiness.

Your acts of care and connection sustained your loved one through a long and difficult passage. Taking active steps to explore dreams, nurture yourself, and find creative paths to vitality are now your most important tasks. Sharing what you have learned, cultivating happiness, and finding new meaning build a loving finale to your caregiving journey.

Related Articles

Support for Alzheimer's and Dementia Caregivers 
What the Caregiver Needs

Coping with Grief and Loss
A Guide to Grieving and Bereavement

More Helpguide articles:

• Dementia and Alzheimer’s Care: Tips, Activities, and Long-Term Care Options 
• Preventing Caregiver Burnout: Tips and Support for Family Caregivers
• Stress Management: How to Reduce, Prevent, and Cope with Stress
• Alzheimer’s Behavior Management: Managing Common Symptoms and Problems  

Need More Help?

Bring Your Life Into Balance: Emotional Skills Toolkit

Feeling overwhelmed by stress and the demands of the caregiving experience? This toolkit can help you learn how to regain your emotional balance. Go to Toolkit »

Related links for Late Stage and End-Of-Life Alzheimer’s Care

Tips for care and understanding

Alzheimer's Playbook: Practical tips and strategies through all stages of Alzheimer’s care (Alzheimer’s Association)

Alzheimer's Poetry Project: Staying connected to your loved one during late stage Alzheimer’s care (Alzheimer’s Poetry Project)

Anticipating Needs: End-of-life needs of people with Alzheimer’s disease (Mayo Clinic)

Caring for A Loved One With Advanced Dementia: Manual on issues and treatment of final stage Alzheimer’s care (Hospice of Michigan).

End-Of-Life: What to expect before, during and after the dying process (Hospice Foundation of America)

Final Stage and End-of-Life Care: Discusses care strategies and after-death support for Alzheimer’s caregivers (Alzheimer Society)

Late Stage Care: Reviews issues and provides suggestions for late stage Alzheimer’s caregiving (Alzheimer’s Association)

Providing Care: Late stage comfort in Alzheimer’s care (National Institute on Aging).

Grief and loss

Grief and Loss: Normal grief and loss during Alzheimer’s caregiving (About.com)

Grieving for The Living: Coping with anticipatory grief in Alzheimer’s disease (Caring.com)

Hospice Admissions Guidelines: Admission and recertification in end-stage Alzheimer’s disease (AlzOnline Caregiver Support)

Planning and legal considerations

End-Of-Life Planning: Living wills and advanced directives (Compassion & Choices)

Five Wishes (PDF): Living will form for directing care and intervention in the final stages of life (Aging With Dignity)

Legal and Financial Planning: Legal and financial considerations with Alzheimer’s disease (Alzheimer’s Disease Education and Referral)

Melissa Wayne, MA contributed to this article. Last modified February 2009

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Preventing Caregiver Burnout

Tips and Support for Family Caregivers

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Outside the world of paid work, the people most prone to burnout are caregivers – people who devote themselves to the unpaid care of chronically ill or disabled family members. The demands of caregiving can be overwhelming, especially if you feel you have little control over the situation or that you’re in over your head.

If you let the stress of caregiving progress to burnout, it can damage both your physical and mental health. So if you’re caring for a family member, it’s essential that you get the support you need. The good news is that you’re not alone. Help for caregivers is available.

In This Article:

• Family caregivers: what you should know
• Signs of caregiver burnout
• Get the help you need
• Seek emotional support
• Taking care of yourself while caregiving
• References and resources

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Family caregivers: What you should know about burnout

Providing care for a family member in need is a centuries-old act of kindness, love, and loyalty. And as life expectancies increase and medical treatments advance, more and more of us will participate in the caregiving process, either as the caregiver, the recipient of care, or possibly both.

Unfortunately, caregiving can take a heavy toll if you don’t get adequate support. Caregiving involves many stressors: changes in the family dynamic, household disruption, financial pressure, and the sheer amount of work involved. The rewards of caregiving – if they come at all – are intangible and far off, and often there is no hope for a happy outcome.

As the stress piles up, frustration and despair take hold and burnout becomes a very real danger. But you can prevent caregiver burnout by following a few essential guidelines:

• Learn as much as you can about your family member’s illness and about how to be a caregiver as you can. The more you know, the more effective you’ll be, and the better you’ll feel about your efforts.
• Know your limits. Be realistic about how much of your time and yourself you can give. Set clear limits, and communicate those limits to doctors, family members, and other people involved.
• Accept your feelings. Caregiving can trigger a host of difficult emotions, including anger, fear, resentment, guilt, helplessness, and grief. As long as you don’t compromise the well-being of the care receiver, allow yourself to feel what you feel.
• Confide in others. Talk to people about what you feel; don’t keep your emotions bottled up. Caregiver support groups are invaluable, but trusted friends and family members can help too. You may also benefit from seeing a therapist or counselor.

10 Tips for Family Caregivers

• Caregiving is a job and respite is your earned right. Reward yourself with respite breaks often.
• Watch out for signs of depression, and don’t delay in getting professional help when you need it.
• When people offer to help, accept the offer and suggest specific things that they can do.
• Educate yourself about your loved one’s condition and how to communicate effectively with doctors.
• There’s a difference between caring and doing. Be open to technologies and ideas that promote your loved one’s independence.
• Trust your instincts. Most of the time they’ll lead you in the right direction.
• Caregivers often do a lot of lifting, pushing, and pulling. Be good to your back.
• Grieve for your losses, and then allow yourself to dream new dreams.
• Seek support from other caregivers. There is great strength in knowing you are not alone.
• Stand up for your rights as a caregiver and a citizen.

Source: National Family Caregiver's Association

Warning signs of caregiver burnout

Once you burn out, caregiving is no longer a healthy option for either you or the person you’re caring for. So it’s important to watch for the warning signs of caregiver burnout and take action right away when you recognize the problem.

Common warning signs of caregiver burnout:

• You have much less energy than you used to
• It seems like you catch every cold or flu that’s going around
• You’re constantly exhausted, even after sleeping or taking a break
• You neglect your own needs, either because you’re too busy or you don’t care anymore
• Your life revolves around caregiving, but it gives you little satisfaction
• You have trouble relaxing, even when help is available
• You’re increasingly impatient and irritable with the person you’re caring for
• You feel overwhelmed, helpless, and hopeless

Preventing caregiver burnout tip 1: Get the help you need

Find caregiver services in your area

Explore the Family Caregiver Alliance’s Family Care Navigator, a state-by-state resource intended to help you locate services for family caregivers and resources for older or disabled adults.

The first strategy for preventing caregiver burnout is: Don’t try to do it all alone. Taking on all of the responsibilities of caregiving without regular breaks or assistance is a surefire recipe for burnout.

Ask for help when you need it. Enlist friends and family who live near you to run errands, bring a hot meal, or “baby-sit” the care receiver so you can take a well-deserved break.

Also, there are services to help caregivers in most communities, and the cost is often based on ability to pay or covered by the care receiver’s insurance. Services that may be available in your community include adult day care centers, home health aides, home-delivered meals, respite care, transportation services, and skilled nursing.

• Caregiver services in your community – Call your local Area Agency on Aging, senior center, senior services organization, county information and referral service, university gerontology department, family service, or hospital social work unit for contact suggestions.
• Caregiver support for veterans – If your care recipient is a Veteran, home health care coverage, financial support, nursing home care, and adult day care benefits may be available. Some Veterans Administration programs are free, while others require co-payments, depending upon the veteran’s status, income, and other criteria.
• Your family member’s affiliations – Fraternal organizations such as the Elks, Eagles, or Moose lodges may offer some assistance if your family member is a longtime dues-paying member. This help may take the form of phone check-ins, home visits, or transportation.
• Community transportation services – Many community transportation services are free for your care recipient, while others may have a nominal fee or ask for a donation. Your local Area Agency on Aging (AAA) can help you locate transportation to and from adult day care, senior centers, shopping malls, and doctor's appointments.
• Telephone check-ins – Telephone reassurance provides prescheduled calls to homebound older adults to reduce their isolation and monitor their well-being. Check with your local AAA, religious groups, senior centers, and other public or nonprofit organizations.
• Adult day care – If your loved one is well enough, consider the possibility of adult day care. An adult day care center can provide you with needed breaks during the day or week, and your loved one with some valuable diversions and activities.

For more information, see Adult Day Care Centers: A Guide to Options and Selecting the Best Center for Your Needs.

Preventing caregiver burnout tip 2: Seek emotional support

Pablo Casals, the world-renowned cellist, said, “The capacity to care is the thing that gives life its deepest significance and meaning.” Although caregivers are often isolated from others, it’s essential that you receive the emotional support you need, so you don’t lose that capacity.

Share what you’re going through with at least one other person. Turn to a trusted friend or family member, join a support group, or make an appointment with a counselor or therapist. You can also draw strength from your faith. A congregation in a church or synagogue can provide the encouragement you need to feel good about your caregiving role, and may also be able to provide a break from time to time.

The value of caregiver support groups

Remember that old adage, "trouble shared is trouble halved"? A caregiver support group is one way to share your troubles. Seek out people who are going through the same experiences that you are living each day. If you can't leave the house, many Internet services are available.

In most support groups, you'll talk about your problems and listen to others talk; you'll not only get help, but you'll be able to help others, too. Most important, you'll find out that you're not alone.You’ll feel better knowing that other people are in the same situation, and their knowledge can be invaluable, especially if they’re dealing with the same illness you are.

Types of Caregiver Support Groups

Community support groups for caregivers: People live near each other and meet in a given place each week or month. You get face-to-face contact and a chance to make new friends who live near you. The meetings get you out of the house, get you moving provide a social outlet, and reduce feelings of isolation. Meetings are at a set time. You will need to attend them regularly to get the full benefit of the group. Since the people in the support group are from your area, they'll be more familiar with local resources and issues.

Internet support groups for caregivers: People are from all over the world and have similar interests or problems. You meet online, through email lists, websites, message boards, or chat rooms. You can get support without leaving your house, which is good for people with limited mobility or transportation problems. You can access the group whenever it's convenient for you or when you need help most. If your problem is very unusual – a rare disease, for example – there may not be enough people for a local group, but there will always be enough people online.

To find a community support group, check the yellow pages, ask your doctor or hospital, or call a local organization that deals with the health problem you would like to address in a support group. To find an Internet support group, visit the website of an organization dedicated to the problem or do a web search on the name of the problem.

Preventing caregiver burnout tip 2: Take care of yourself

When you are a caregiver, finding time to nurture yourself might seem impossible. But you owe it to yourself to find the time. Without it, you may not have the mental or physical strength to deal with all of the stress you experience as a caregiver. Give yourself permission to rest and to do things that you enjoy on a daily basis. You will be a better caregiver for it.

Tips for taking care of yourself:

• Incorporate activities that give you pleasure even when you don't really feel like it. Listen to music, work in the garden, engage in a hobby…whatever it is that you enjoy.
• Pamper yourself. Take a warm bath and light candles. Find some time for a manicure or a massage.
• Eat balanced meals to nurture your body. Find time to exercise even if it's a short walk everyday. Do the best you can to sleep at least 7 hours a night.
• Laughter really is the best medicine. Buy a light-hearted book or rent a comedy. Whenever you can, try to find some humor in everyday situations.
• Keep a journal. Write down your thoughts and feelings. This helps provide perspective on your situation and serves as an important release for your emotions.
• Arrange a telephone contact with a family member, a friend, or a volunteer from a church or senior center so that someone calls each day to be sure everything is all right. This person can help by contacting other family members with status updates or to let them know if you need anything.
• Try to set a time for afternoons or evenings out. Seek out friends and family to help you so that you can have some time away from the home. If it is difficult to leave, invite friends and family over to visit with you. Share some tea or coffee. It is important that you interact with others.

Preventing Burnout: Symptoms, Causes and Coping Strategies  

Comprehensive Helpguide article focusing on work-related burnout and what you can do to recover, To learn more about stress management strategies, social support, and self-care, see

Preventing Burnout: Signs, Symptoms, Causes, and Coping Strategies

Related Articles

Respite Care 
Finding and Choosing Respite Care Services and Providers

Stress Management 
How to Reduce, Prevent, and Cope with Stress

More Helpguide articles:

• Support for Alzheimer's and Dementia Caregivers: What the Caregiver Needs 
• Home Care Services for Seniors: Services to Help you Stay at Home
• Adult Day Care Centers: Finding the Best Center for Your Needs

Need More Help?

Bring Your Life Into Balance: Emotional Skills Toolkit

Feeling overwhelmed by stress and the demands of the caregiving experience? This toolkit can help you learn how to regain your emotional balance. Go to Toolkit »

Related links for preventing caregiver burnout

Preventing family caregiver burnout

The Caregiver Manual – Comprehensive resource for caregivers, including articles on how to decrease stress, find support, and balance your time. (Strength for Caring)

Family Caregiving 101 - Offers advice, information, and support for caregivers. Includes a directory of resources, including financial advisors, support groups, and elder care organizations. (National Family Caregivers Association and the National Alliance for Caregiving)

Recognizing and Coping With Caregiver Burnout – This page, linked to a page on “Getting help to prevent burnout,” is on a terrific, comprehensive Canadian site about caregiving. (Peel Public Health)

Preventing Caregiver Burnout – Part of a handbook and resource guide for caregivers in Florida. Examines the signs of caregiver burnout and how to handle it. Includes tips for caregivers who are themselves challenged by age or infirmity. (Area Agency on Aging of Pasco-Pinellas) 

Tips and support for family caregivers

Information Library – 100 fact sheets and publications on numerous caregiving issues. (Family Caregiver Alliance)

Tips for Caregivers – Provides information to help caregivers prevent burn-out and relieve the stresses of caregiving. (National Family Alliance)

Tips for Family Caregivers – Ten important tips for caregivers. (National Family Caregivers Association)

Online Guide to Caregiving – A comprehensive collection of articles and tools to assist caregivers. (AARP Magazine)

Advice for Caregivers / Terminal Illnesses - Contains articles that present advice for caregivers faced with terminal illness patients. (Terminal Illness)

Melinda Smith, M.A. and Gina Kemp, M.A., contributed to this article. Last modified: November 2010.

http://helpguide.org/toolkit/emotional_health.htm

 

Bring Your Life Into Balance

HELPGUIDE'S STRESS-BUSTING, MOOD-BOOSTING TOOLKIT FOR BUILDING EMOTIONAL SKILLS

 

At Helpguide, we often hear from people who feel overwhelmed by stress, family and relationship problems, health challenges, and painful emotions. They’ve read our articles and learned that they can do things to help themselves feel better, but they just can’t seem to follow through.

It’s all too easy to become discouraged when you’re stuck. The problem is not willpower—all the willpower in the world won’t matter if you don’t know how to manage stress and balance your emotions.

The good news: you can learn these skills, no matter your age or the obstacles you face. We have built a special toolkit called Bringing Your Life Into Balance that teaches these emotional skills.

Skill building, like any learning, takes time and effort. Self-defeating habits get grooved in the brain and it takes practice to create new grooves. This toolkit guides you every step of the way and helps keep you motivated as you bring your life back into balance.

Jeanne Segal, Ph.D. - Helpguide Co-founder & Editorial Director

 

·         Start here: Step-By-Step Guide to the Toolkit ·         Video 2: Roadblocks to Awareness (2:54) ·         Video 5: Harness Your Emotions (3:31)

·         Introductory Article: Bring Your Life Into Balance ·         Video 3: Quick Stress Relief (4:11) ·         Video 6. Unexpected Rewards (4:30)

·         Video 1: Emotions Matter! (2:50) ·         Video 4: Developing Emotional Awareness (2:50) ·         Video 7. It's Up To You (3:50)

Core Articles & Ride the Wild Horse Audio Meditation

Quick Stress Relief: Beat stress in the moment

Emotional Awareness: Harness your emotions

Related Articles

• Nonverbal Communication Skills: The Power of Nonverbal Communication and Body Language
• Playful Communication in Relationships: The Power of Laughter, Humor, and Play
• Conflict Resolution Skills: Managing and Resolving Conflict in a Positive Way

The Science Behind the Toolkit

Dr. Allan Shore - Clinical Faculty & Researcher, Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA

Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, Ed.D. - Cognitive Neuroscientist, Brain and Creativity Institute, USC