Beyond New Years Resolutions A sustainable way for change

Overview: Our service is dedicated to supporting couples as they navigate the complex emotional landscape of terminal illness. We aim to foster resilience, compassion, and understanding, ensuring that both partners feel supported and connected throughout this journey. Tailored to each couple’s unique situation, we offer emotional, psychological, and practical support.

Emotional Support

• Understanding and Empathy: We facilitate open communication to ensure that both partners feel heard and understood, acknowledging the range of emotions such as fear, anger, sadness, and hope.

• Coping with Grief: We provide strategies to deal with anticipatory grief and the mourning process, recognizing that grief can start long before a loss occurs.

Psychological Support

• Mental Health Management: We assist both the ill partner and the caregiver in managing stress, anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges that may arise.

• Strength-Based Approaches: We focus on identifying and building upon the strengths of the relationship and each individual, fostering a sense of empowerment and resilience.

Navigating Role Changes

• Adjusting to New Roles: We offer guidance as couples adjust to changes in roles, with one partner possibly taking on more caregiving responsibilities, and discuss the impact this can have on identity and self-esteem.

• Maintaining Identity: We help both partners maintain their sense of self and identity amidst the caregiving and illness-related challenges.

Communication and Connection

• Effective Communication: We teach strategies for effective and compassionate communication about needs, fears, and desires, ensuring that the illness does not overshadow the relationship.

• Maintaining Intimacy: We explore ways to maintain emotional and, if possible, physical intimacy, recognizing the importance of connection in facing illness together.

Practical and End-of-Life Planning

• Navigating Medical Decisions: We assist couples in making informed medical decisions together, respecting both the patient’s autonomy and the partner’s input.

• End-of-Life Planning: We offer compassionate guidance in end-of-life planning, including discussing wishes for care, legacy planning, and how to communicate these wishes to family and loved ones.

Support for Caregivers

• Self-Care for Caregivers: We emphasize the importance of self-care for the caregiving partner, including setting boundaries, seeking support, and managing caregiver burnout.

• Community and Resources: We connect couples with community resources, support groups, and services that can provide additional support and relief.

Dealing with a terminal illness in a relationship is an intensely personal and challenging journey. Our counseling services aim to provide a safe, supportive space for both partners to navigate this path together, focusing on maintaining their bond, dignity, and quality of life throughout the process. This comprehensive approach underscores our commitment to supporting couples through every stage of their relationship, even in the face of life’s most difficult challenges.