General
Not taking on the emotions of others
In support group this week we were talking about communicating your medical situation to your loved ones without taking on their fear, and I mentioned this diagram. This is one I reference in my own life all the time and that I use when working with patients and their families. It’s basically a flow of support vs. emotion. The patient is the hub of it all, and all support should be flowing inward. So from the outer circles towards the inner circles. Likewise any big feelings flow out, away from the patient. In my life this could look like my mom has big feelings about my medical situation, she’s going to direct those big feelings to her support and not to me. It means people in my broader community might extend support to my mom or my husband so they can support me better. But the primary goal is support inward, big feelings outward.
this has helped me in defining roles, understanding caregivers need care too and I can’t be that person. It helps us all take responsibility for our place in things and keeps it all running smoothly.
is this helpful? What do you use to organize support vs taking on big feelings
