Soul Care for the Caregiver: A Spiritual Approach (In-Person Program with Four Opportunities for Soul Care)

Please note that this program consists of 4 individual opportunities for Soul Care for Caregivers, each session with a different topic and focus. You can choose to attend, one, two, three or all four sessions. (There is a discounted price offered if you sign up for all four.)

Millions of people in the U.S. are in caregiving roles providing assistance and care for the daily needs of a loved one or client who is unable to fully care for themselves. We recognize that caregiving brings both gifts and challenges. Sometimes it is hard for Caregivers to see the gifts because of the physical and emotional strain of their daily care responsibilities. This program series is designed specifically to support and encourage Caregivers.

Whether you already recognize the need for deepening self-care on your caregiving journey, or this is your first step toward self-care, let us be part of your support team! Our experienced Facilitators bring a rich and unique set of experience, skills, and gifts to their passion for Caregivers. They have chosen four topics that they feel are especially important for your self-care. We also know your schedule as a Caregiver is tight and you may not be able to make all four sessions. You are welcome to register for one, a few, or all four sessions. Please read on for the detailed description for each session. Each session is being held in-person at Well for the Journey in Lutherville.

“Self-care is never a selfish act – it is simply good stewardship of the only gift I have, the gift I was put on the earth to offer to others. Anytime we can listen to true self and give it the care it requires, we do so not only for ourselves, but for others whose lives we touch.” Parker Palmer, Let Your Life Speak

Session 1:  Beginnings and Endings: A Spiritual Journey- Thursday, July 11th, 6:30 – 8:00 PM (Judy Wright)
The caregiving journey, like life, is a series of beginnings and endings, changes both welcome and unwelcome. In this first session of Soul Care for the Caregiver, we will spend time reflecting on the challenges of caring for someone. Whether you are caring for a client or someone you love deeply, the experience changes you. Using the poem “Beginnings and Endings” by Kate Bowler and Jessica Ritchie as a guide, we will explore the emotions and spiritual underpinnings that provide sustenance and support for the beginnings and endings woven through the caregiving journey and how they change us.

Judy Wright has been caregiving for almost 60 years, both as a nurse and spiritual midwife. Caregiving is part of Judy’s bones. Learning how to care for herself while caring for others is a skill that Judy sees as being rooted in the light of divinity and the love that we share with each other. This time together is to help us share and explore what we are feeling, questioning, and wondering about on this journey. How do we find gratitude, how do we find joy even during the toughest moments. Do we grow through the process of caring? Does our faith help us and bolster us?

Session 2:  The Soundtrack of a Caregiving Life: A Musical Memory Workshop – Saturday, July 20th, 1:00 – 2:30 PM (Lauren Knatz)
Have you ever listened to a song from your youth that transported you right back to the exact time and place where you first heard it? Experts refer to this as a reminiscence bump: a time between adolescence and young adulthood, when musical memory was first paired with autobiographical memory and filed away for safekeeping.

In this second session, Lauren Knatz, musician, author, storyteller, and believer in the healing power of music, will take you on a journey of restoration, self-discovery and self-reflection, specially designed for caregivers, and give you the tools to:

· Unlock the musical memories within the framework of a traditional folk song
· Explore and record the feelings and images that resonate with spontaneity and curiosity
· Reconnect with the significant people, places & events that have given your life meaning & spiritual presence
· Reexamine past experiences with renewed clarity, discernment, and lovingkindness
· Realign with the power of forgiveness and reconciliation
· Foster lasting bonds with fellow caregivers through the retelling of shared experiences
· Uncover universal themes that resonate both personally and collectively
· Sing together to relieve stress, build community and increase social bonding
· Rest and restore with the soothing sounds of live music

Session 3: Sacred Grieving as Self-Care & Compassion – Wednesday, August 7th, 6:30 PM-8:30 PM (Gordon Creamer)
The concept of grieving loss as a journey allows human beings to understand the healing process in stages, with accompanying tasks, and with needs that are both universal and unique. Yet, there are many faces to grief and innumerable ways of expressing it. And, the experience of caregiving for loved ones and clients involves its own dimensions of engaging with the landscape of loss and the numerous ways it can impact our identities, abilities, and ways of connecting with ourselves and others in definitive ways.

The reality of caregiving, the myriad emotions it creates, and the constant demands it requires offer us an opportunity to recognize our feelings and reflect upon our experiences with validation. Moreover, processing this all through a lens of grief can empower individuals to access necessary healing in order move forward in empowered ways on their journey while still tending to loved ones or clients as caregivers.

Join Gordon Creamer, Program Director at Well for the Journey, Spiritual Director, and experienced retreat and workshop leader, for this third session that incorporates a spiritual approach to the grief work that is intrinsic to caregiving. As we gather together, we will engage in opportunities for storytelling and listening, meditation and journaling, and other meaningful exercises. Various educational and self-care resources will be offered to uplift participants on their journey as they consider their respective circumstances in light of the sacred tasks inherent to grieving while caregiving. And, in solidarity with other caregivers, take steps toward openness to the powerful transformation that losses and intentional grief work can lead us to, both within our caregiving roles and daily lives.

Session 4: Caregiving and the Love Languages: Understanding & Creating Meaning – Monday, August 19th, 6:30 – 8:00 PM (Gordon Creamer)
The reality of caregiving in this era is one that often includes exhaustive to-do lists, never-ending appointments and adjustments, and striving to meet ever-changing demands. And, it’s more than obvious that the experience of this is not conducive to the critical time needed for personal reflection upon the meaning of our exchanges with those for whom we are caregiving. In our fourth session of this series, we will explore the innovative concept of the five love languages as described by Gary Chapman and how it can be applied to us as individuals as well as the relationships we encounter as caregivers for loved ones or patients. We will also consider the groundbreaking work that Chapman and co-authors, Deborah Barr and Ed Shaw, have created in connecting the world of love languages to the harsh realities of caregiving, especially for those with dementia and other life-limiting conditions. By weaving in various concepts and creative exercises from their text, Keeping Love Alive As Memories Fade: The Five Love Languages and the Alzheimer’s Journey, you will be invited to expand in understanding your own personal love language, that of the person you are caring for, and also what related possibilities exist for deeper meaning and renewal in your life and caregiving.

Join Gordon Creamer, Program Director at Well for the Journey, Spiritual Director, and experienced retreat and workshop leader, for this final session in our Soul Care for the Caregiver series. As we gather together, we will engage in opportunities for storytelling and listening, meditation, and journaling among other spiritual-oriented exercises. Information about the love languages and diverse opportunities for their integration will be introduced to empower you as you reflect upon your respective circumstances in light of caregiving with love. This final session will provide a safe, sacred space for you to re-envision your daily tasks, multi-faceted lives, and inherent desire to be loving in your current caregiver situation and within your ongoing journey ahead. We hope you can join us!

COST: Cost per session varies (see registration form at link below.)

LOCATION: Well for the Journey – 120 W. Seminary Ave, Lutherville-Timonium, MD 21093

REGISTRATION is required; please register here.

CANCELLATION POLICY: Please read our cancellation policy, here.

IMPORTANT: You will receive an email from lorie@wellforthejourney.org at least 24 hours in advance of the start of your program. If you are unable to find the email, please check your SPAM or JUNK email folders. This email will include details to help you prepare for your program including any pertinent handouts, location information, and the ZOOM link for online programs. Please be sure you have received and read this email a minimum of 24 hours in advance of the start of the program. Thank you!

FACILITATORS:

Judy Wright
Judy Wright is a retired nurse, a Spiritual Director, wife, and mother of two adult children. She worked for 50 years as an R.N after graduating Nursing School from Church, Home, and Hospital. At the age of 65, she obtained her M.A. from Loyola University, Maryland and became a Spiritual Director. To Judy, spiritual direction is not truly directing, but rather sitting with, and guiding someone who is searching for a new and deeper spiritual life. Thus, she sees herself as a midwife, being alongside those who are open to birthing a new relationship with the Divine.

Judy is also an active Episcopalian, serving her local church in various ways on the vestry, as a Eucharistic Minister, a member of the prayer group and St. Luke’s ministry, and a spiritual facilitator of a weekly woman’s group, Additionally, she has been part of the Diocesan Council of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, a co-chair of the Reparations Committee, and is presently a co-chair of the Commission of Ministry. Judy also serves on the Board of Directors for the Well for the Journey and as Chairperson of the Program Circle.

Lauren Knatz
Lauren Knatz has performed acoustic guitar with vocal accompaniment for seniors, hospice patients and special needs populations for over twenty years. She is an author, folk musician, and storyteller, who collects the stories and favorite music of those residing in all levels of care in Central Pa and Md.

Lauren is a strong advocate for those living with life altering conditions and her work focuses on using music as a tool to give voice to the memories stored within the context of a song. She believes that a song can be compared to an individual’s life – when you understand the inspiration and historical context behind a song, the notes resonate with deeper clarity. Similarly, when we are empowered to reflect upon our own lives, we begin to recognize each turning point as a channel to greater peace and understanding.

Lauren’s work has gained the recognition of York Hospital Family Medicine, where she has presented to resident doctors integrating Narrative Medicine, a person-centered, clinical approach from Columbia University that honors the narrative of the patient to improve communication, instill empathy, and promote healing.

Gordon Creamer
Gordon Creamer, creator of The Mission Bridge , joined the Well’s Staff in July 2022 as Program Director. He has been involved in healthcare programming and operations since 2001 at various Assisted Living, Skilled Nursing, and Hospice communities. He earned an MA in Spiritual & Pastoral Care from Loyola University and an MA in Theology from the Ecumenical Institute of St. Mary’s Seminary & University. He is currently a candidate for the Doctor of Ministry Program at the Ecumenical Institute.
Gordon has facilitated numerous retreats and workshops that focus on creating opportunities for participants to explore and enhance their spirituality and well-being through various media and practices. Uplifting the journey of adults, individuals with memory impairment, and members of the LGBTQ+ community is a passion for him. In the last several years, he has fostered support groups and programs for caregivers and those who are grieving losses. Gordon is also a trained end-of-life doula, certified spiritual director, and Reiki Practitioner, who welcomes all in discovering the spiritual life as a means of healing, growing, and thriving.