Traveller and Companion

Deborah DeCairos Grandmaitre, M.Ed., CCC

Canadian Certified Counsellor

Qualitites For Caregivers

• Care NOT Cure: Caring is a journey, shared by two people. It's a living relationship; more a matter of being than doing.

• Listening with your heart: Listening without the urge to change, fix, or give advice. Be with that person wherever they are. Listen with your whole body.

• The meaning of Caring: to grieve with, to cry with, to be with in times of sorrow and happiness, through skills of listening, affirmation. No solutions, no quick fixes. To assist the person in such a way that growth is fostered. A caring person does not try to cheer us up, change the subject, mince our words - they listen until the person has talked long enough that they have come to their own conclusions and their own decisions - not ours.

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References

1. Canadian Medical Association
2. Canadian Psychological Association
3. Canadian Psychiatric Association
4. www.caringtotheend.com (Princess Margaret Hospital, University Health Network)
5. The City of Ottawa
6. FM-CFS Canada - Resources for Family, Care-Givers
7. MS Society Ontario
8. Ottawa Pastoral Care Course
9. www.phac-aspc.gc.ca
10. Tapestry House