Reduce Caregiver Stress & Empower Cancer Patients With Reiki
Caregiver Stress is a Given When You’re Taking Care of Someone with Cancer.
Whether you’re a family member or professional, caregiver stress causes symptoms like these:
- Depression
- High anxiety and trouble focusing
- Feeling overwhelmed
- Frustration
- Sleep Deprivation
I understand all of these feelings because I have been there, as a Registered Nurse and a long-term caregiver for my parents and husband.
My journey began in 2005 when my elderly parents were no longer able to live alone. My mother was developing dementia and my father was no longer able to keep up with her care. As the youngest child and an RN, the caregiver responsibilities fell upon me to take care of them. I felt like the poster child for caregiver stress.
So, I jumped in and took full responsibility along with my nursing job. Wow, what a task.
I experienced all of the symptoms of caregiver stress
In 2010 my parents passed at home with all of the love and family surrounding them. I had very little time to recover, as in that same year my husband was diagnosed with T-Cell Lymphoma. My cancer caregiver responsibilities continued for 5 more years. Then my beloved husband passed away in 2015.
I was suffering from severe caregiver stress & burnout and knew I could not handle it on my own. My saving grace was finding a wonderful method, I could use at anytime, anywhere on myself and also on my husband.
This method is Reiki, a Japanese technique for the relief of many of the emotional and physical symptoms you are dealing with when taking care of others. Through the use of Reiki, I was able to reduce caregiver stress, anxiety, and frustration in my personal and professional life and at the same time reduce the pain and side effects of chemo on my husband.
- Research shows that Reiki can help reduce depression and anxiety among people with chronic illnesses.
- Both hands on and distance Reiki were found to reduce depression significantly with the effects lasting up to 1-year post-treatment.
- Whether pain or some other issue caused agitation, Reiki can calm dementia patients and make dealing with them easier for all involved.
- Reiki can relieve caregiver burnout… 20% of family caregivers suffer from depression.
- Nurses are prone to burnout and compassion fatigue and therefore benefit from Reiki self-care to prevent and heal caregiver stress.
As for my cancer caregiver responsibilities…they continued for 5 more years. Then my beloved husband passed away in 2015, but his quality of life up until his last breath was extraordinary thanks to the healing power of Reiki.
Even if you’re not local to the Pittsburgh area to stop in for a treatment or to get reiki certified, did you know that Reiki can be done at a distance? Discover more by hopping over to my Distance Reiki page.
https://psychcentral.com/lib/reikis-use-in-dementia-patients-and-for-their-caregivers/
- Reiki is requested 25% of the time as a complementary therapy in the health-care setting for patients and families.
- As a healthcare professional, you can incorporate Reiki into your patient care. My patients and family caregivers LOVE receiving Reiki!
https://iarp.org/reiki-and-medicine/
Would you like to relieve your caregiver stress and also help the one you are caring for by learning this very simple method?
The answer is in your hands, you will never feel helpless again.
Contact me now to learn how you can reduce your caregiver stress today.
Blessings
Bonnie
