Health and Wellness

It can be hard to manage calmly with changes in your health.

YOU MAY BE EXPLORING THIS PAGE BECAUSE…

You’ve recently learned that you have received a diagnosis of a significant degenerative disease and don’t know how to come to terms with it.
You’re partner is showing signs of forgetfulness or confusion. Despite batteries of tests, there is no clear diagnosis yet to be made. You don’t know what the future will bring.
One of your parents is facing a significant surgery. You don’t live nearby and you work full-time and you want to be there to provide support.
You no longer look as youthful as your coworkers and worry that you are going to be aged-out of your office.
You want your parents to join you on an extended vacation, but are worried that their health problems will get in the way or that they won’t want to come

Please read a little bit about the services that I offer and see if they might help you.

It can be hard to manage calmly with changes in health.

When you’re the person living with a significant health change, it can feel like your whole world has turned upside down. You may not be able to stop worrying about yourself, worrying about how others will manage hearing the news, and worrying about what to do, especially if you are still working.

If this is you: You need a place where you can let out your feelings and also think through what these changes mean for you now and for you later on. This situation can be almost identical when the person with health changes is your partner or parent, except you may feel a greater loss of control.

My Goals for Therapy Around Changes in Health & Wellness

I view changes in health and wellness as an inevitable part of life that seldom gets the attention it requires.

As a society, we’ve paid a cost for focusing so much on youth and wellness. When our bodies fail to live up to these standards, it makes us feel worried, anxious and miserable. It can seem that there is little tolerance to getting older, or tolerance to our parts becoming less effective. We also often need to come to terms with the loss of activities and pastimes that we love. When changes in health include degeneration to our brains, it can be even more frightening. If you worry easily, the fear of mortality can be triggered, too.

Part of my practice is focused on helping people manage with changes in their health and wellness, as these changes can create a lot of worry and stress for you, your partner, your adult children, friends and colleagues. We can work together, coming to terms with these health changes. We can also identify strategies for managing them over time. If the change is specifically tied to the brain, I may be able to provide greater support through administration or review of psychological tests or neuropsychological tests.

My Experience with Changes in Health and Wellness

My graduate training exposed me to the field of geropsychology. Later, I was faculty at the USC Geriatric Studies Center, working closely with people and families affected by Alzheimer’s disease, and other brain diseases seen in late-life. I have practiced in hospitals, assisted-living facilities, nursing homes and retirement settings. Since then, I’ve worked with many people who have been challenged to manage with the complexities of our bodies.

Being human, and aging myself, I’ve also had to come to terms with my own aging as well that of my parents and siblings.