What changes in us when we give care?
Becoming a caregiver changes everything — responsibilities, beliefs, hopes, expectations, and relationships. Whether caring is a profession or a private activity in the family, it is so complex and private that caregivers often find their experience impossible to describe and comprehend.
Who should attend this retreat?
Our expert team adapts each Caregiver Transformation Retreat to the needs and realities of the participants. The retreat is customizable for groups of family caregivers OR professionals seeking to sustain care.
The Caregiver Transformation Retreat will invite participants into an immersive experience that will give language and meaning to their caregiving lives. By participating in this retreat, caregivers will:
- Connect with and learn from a powerful community of people whose lives have been transformed by caregiving.
- Receive knowledge and insight from caregiving experts who provide a 360 degree view of the care experience (from practical challenges, to relationships, to communicating care in the workplace).
- Discern how and why caregiving has impacted their personal and professional lives.
- Discover hidden assets in the community and in the workplace.
- Create a framework and develop a plan for negotiating care amidst ongoing work-life responsibilities and challenges.
- Learn strategies to provide quality care in ways that do not erode personal health and well-being.
Participants in The Caregiving Transformation Retreat will engage in expertly facilitated activities of personal reflection and group sharing, allowing content to be adapted and refined to individual needs and foster transformative learning. Participants will leave feeling comforted, enlightened, determined, and empowered to live well amid circumstances of complicated, ongoing adversity.
Customized Retreat Options
Our three-tiered retreat offering* allows sponsoring organizations to ensure that participants receive substantive support within varying budget and time constraints.
Each retreat includes discovery of caregiver identity, overcoming communication challenges, leveraging hidden community resources, and access to personal mindfulness/counseling.
*pricing available upon request
Our Team
Our team is comprised of four distinguished caregiving leaders who have both a personal and professional drive to help others who care.
Aaron Blight, Ed.D.
Aaron is an international speaker and consultant on caregiving, aging, and healthcare. He is the founder of Caregiving Kinetics and serves as an Adjunct Professor at Shenandoah University. Aaron’s passion for supporting caregivers is rooted in his own experience as a family caregiver, in addition to his prior work as the owner of a large home healthcare company and as a healthcare policy leader at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Aaron was recently recognized as a “Top 100 Healthcare Leader” by the International Forum on Advancements in Healthcare. He currently serves as a board member for a number of care-related organizations.
Amanda LaRose, LCSW, C-ASWCM
Amanda is a Licensed Clinical Social Work Therapist and Certified Advanced Social Work Case Manager. Previously, as the Director of Social Work at Goodwin House Alexandria Continuing Care Retirement Community and later the Director of Resident Services at Ingleside at Rock Creek’s Continuing Care Retirement Community, she has not only ensured the emotional needs of elders and their caregivers are being met, but that the many resources for eldercare are being utilized amongst the communities she serves. She is now the Owner of We Care Management, LLC, established in 2016, offering Care Coordination and Counseling for elders and their caregivers in Northern Virginia. wecaremanagement.com
Donna Thomson
Donna is a caregiver, author and activist. She is the co-author (with Dr. Zachary White) of The Unexpected Journey of Caring: The Transformation from Loved One to Caregiver (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019) and author of The Four Walls of My Freedom: Lessons I’ve Learned From a Life of Caregiving (The House of Anansi Press, 2014). Donna has been a family caregiver for her entire adult life and now works with families giving care, helping them to match their needs at home or in health care settings with resources in the community. She blogs regularly at The Caregivers’ Living Room (www.donnathomson.com).
Zachary White, Ph.D.
Zachary earned his Ph.D. in communication from Purdue University. His research and teaching focus on helping people manage meaning and communicate life experiences amidst high levels of uncertainty. His research has explored a variety of care experiences, including parental NICU experiences, chronic caregiver experiences, and end-of-life caregiving. Zachary is the co-author (with Donna Thomson) of The Unexpected Journey of Caring: The Transformation from Loved One to Caregiver (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019) and the founder of the award-winning blog and resource for caregivers called “The Unprepared Caregiver.” theunpreparedcaregiver.com
Representative Feedback About Our Workshops
“Thank you for talking about what no one else ever does: the deeply personal (that I have never been “ able to explain, even to myself) combined with creative practical strategies for living while caring”
“Heading into this retreat, I felt alone. Leaving this retreat, I know I am part of a community and I know how to leverage community knowledge, insight, and support.”
“I was confused, tired, and disoriented by caregiving. Now I am informed, rejuvenated and feel more in control.”
“I have begun to see a path ahead that will work for me, my loved one, family, and workplace.”