Kimberly D. Scott

This episode of Caregivers Stories, Dr. Elizabeth Shulman, the author of “Sanctuary in the Midst of Alzheimer's: A Ministry for Husbands and Wives Caring for a Spouse with Dementia”. They talked about their loved ones who were diagnosed with dementia and how it changed their perspective about caregiving.  Self-love and self-care are one of the main things that caregivers give the least priority. The wives, husbands, and children who become the primary caregiver become trapped into guilt, thinking that they do not deserve to get their “me time." When Elizabeth’s husband was diagnosed with late on-set paranoid schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder, the increasing responsibility of caring for an ill husband changed the roles in their marriage. And just like most of the caregivers, she temporarily lost her own sense of self to caregiving. It was not until she began her chaplain residency in a Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) program that she placed value to her own identity as a spousal caregiver.