Michelle is a certified health and wellness coach specializing in supporting other family caregivers.
I am a caregiver for my young adult son and I love connecting with other caregivers. My husband commutes to a job 200 miles away. My daughter lives a thousand miles away. My son, who was born with a progressive, degenerative, life-threatening neurological disease and needs total care, lives with me because he can’t live anywhere else, and because he is the joy and sunshine in my life. My hobby is making pottery on a potter’s wheel. I’m sort of a youngish aging vegan hippie. I wore a corporate persona for many years while working as a business lawyer. It was a relief to drop that mask and now I pursue my passion to be of service to caregivers and others who seek good health and wellness.
I like to say I have a black belt in self-care because I’ve had 23 years of practice as a family caregiver -- I wanted to thrive, not just survive. But I’ve also had trauma therapy, because sometimes self-care isn’t enough. Caregiving is often traumatic. In the early years of caregiving, it was easy to identify as a victim and martyr. But when I let go of that story, I experienced the thrill of accelerated personal growth. I am grateful for the deep peace and easy access to bliss that my meditation practice gives. And, I delight in the magic of a universe that mirrors my optimism by bringing amazing people and experiences into my life. I would love to catalyze these kinds of transformations for other caregivers.
Why I coach caregivers
How did we get here and where can we go?
We did not choose to be caregivers. We had a child born with disabilities, a spouse who became ill, or an elderly parent who needed our help. It can be overwhelming – the responsibility, fear, sacrifice, exhaustion. We put our own needs last and give caregiving our priority. It can be lonely, depressing, isolating.
But it’s also an opportunity – for personal growth, discovery of our strengths, and awakening of our empathy and compassion. It’s a portal to parts of us we didn’t know were there.
And our lives can have joy, laughter, even bliss. Our relationships can be deeper and more meaningful, and our interactions with others more productive.
I help caregivers shift into a life well-lived. I am at your service as a loving, supportive, nonjudgmental mirror, reflecting you back to yourself, to help you see that you are whole and unbroken, strong and resourceful. You can connect with your own inspiration and creativity; you wear the ruby slippers like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. As Glinda the Good Witch would say: You have always had the power my dear.