Caregiving Comforts cover art

Caregiving Comforts

By: Denise M. Brown
  • Summary

  • Denise brings you comfort on Mondays to help you continue in your personal caregiving experience.

    You can read the comforts in The Encyclopedia of Family Caregiving, our group on Caring Our Way, our community of support. Join us.

    About Denise

    Denise M. Brown supports individuals managing difficult life experiences with coaching, planning and training. Through her work, Denise helps clients find hope, possibilities and a path forward.
    Denise began helping individuals who care for a family member in 1990 and launched a business to help them in 1995. She created one of the first online caregiving communities in 1996 which she managed until its sale in 2020.

    Denise now develops and delivers training programs for the workplace and for individuals who want to coach family caregivers. More than 400 individuals from eight different countries have enrolled in her training programs offered through her company, The Caregiving Years Training Academy. Her training programs have been approved to provide Continuing Education Units to health care professionals, including nurses, and human resource professionals.

    Denise developed several concepts, including The Six Caregiving Stages, The 12 Caregiving Fatigues and The 17 Caregiving Systems, which both explain the complexity of a personal caregiving situation and inspire interventions to better support family caregivers. Denise completed life coach training through iPEC Coaching in 2004 to ensure she brings the best skills possible into her training, her workshops and her support groups.

    Denise also hosts an online community, CaringOurWay.com, that supports individuals during and after their personal caregiving experience. Community members enjoy free workshops and special events like the Caregiving Listener Project and the 36-Hour Christmas Chat.

    For 18 years, Denise led Lunch and Learn workshops at employers located in the Midwest on behalf of Employee Assistance Programs and Work/Life Benefit companies. She presented to employees in various industries, including health care, financial services, telecom and insurance. Her seminars consistently were rated “Excellent” or “Very Good” by attendees. Her workshops provide insights to help attendees manage their work/life balance, their stress and their caregiving responsibilities.
    Denise is the author of several books that provide insights, comfort and hope to those who care, including The Caregiving Years, Your Guide to Navigating the Six Caregiving Stages and After Caregiving Ends, A Guide to Beginning Again. Her free resource, A Workbook for Your Workplace Wellness, helps individuals who care, grieve and work.

    Denise began helping her parents in 2004 after her father’s bladder cancer diagnosis. Her mom, who had Parkinson’s disease, died in August 2022, one year to the date after Denise’s brother died. Her father died in July 2023.

    Next Avenue named Denise a 2017 Influencer in Aging, one of “50 advocates, researchers, thought leaders, innovators, writers and experts who continue to push beyond traditional boundaries and change our understanding of what it means to grow older.” Her insights have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, US News & World Report, USA Today, SmartMoney.com, Time magazine and Chicago Tribune.
    Denise M. Brown
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Episodes
  • A Caregiving Comfort: Negotiate
    Apr 22 2024
    You're negotiating who does what when how and why.

    You're negotiating while suppressing the utter frustration that you can't just get a simple, "Sure, I'll do just as you requested. No problem."

    You crave the Yes.
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    2 mins
  • A Caregiving Comfort: Forward
    Apr 15 2024
    Your progress in your life seems, at best, to stall.

    How do you keep your life moving forward when so much looks backward?
    Show More Show Less
    2 mins
  • A Caregiving Comfort: Fine
    Apr 1 2024
    They ask, "How are you?"

    You answer, "I'm fine."

    The problem, of course, is that you're not really fine.
    Show More Show Less
    4 mins

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