My background and why I care about caregivers
Short Bio
I’m a Certified Focusing Professional and a mindfulness practitioner with over 25 years of experience. Like many of you, I had a sudden introduction to caregiving. At age 30, I became a caregiver overnight when my father had a brain hemorrhage. I spent a year trying to make him better - an impossible task. It wasn’t until he told me to get on with my life that I paused, realized I was totally drained and stopped caring for him full time.
In the years that followed, I struggled to balance my professional career—working in international development—with my personal life as a family caregiver. This prompted me to find ways to enhance my own well being. I took a mindfulness class, found it surprisingly helpful, and honed in on mindfulness and other awareness practices that brought me more ease and joy. Now, I help other caregivers do the same. My approach is informed by years of practicing and teaching mindfulness, a Certificate in Focusing from the International Focusing Institute, 25 years as a professional at the World Bank, an MBA from Harvard Business School and 30 years as a family caregiver.
Long bio
Thirty years ago, my father, a single man in New Zealand, suffered a massive brain hemorrhage. In an instant, my role shifted from daughter to primary caregiver. I spent a year trying to make him better, somehow believing that if I gave him everything I had, he would recover. It didn’t work: he deteriorated, and I became utterly drained (although I didn’t know it).
This pattern is common amongst family caregivers. We give of ourselves, rarely to ourselves, and suffer the consequences - often silently. Research bears this out: caregiving can take a severe toll on the emotional and physical well being of caregivers - so much so that the healthcare industry now refers to caregivers as “the invisible second patient.”
It doesn’t have to be this way, and my goal is to help caregivers create a different path for themselves and those they love.
I spent the first part of my professional career working with Governments in sub-Saharan Africa on ways to create more jobs & prosperity. While I specialized in listening to stakeholders, I wasn’t able to listen within and meet my own needs. I was too busy trying to meet the needs of others. Ultimately, a life threatening condition forced me to stop. In 1999, I took a mindfulness class, found it surprisingly helpful and began weaving mindfulness practice into my daily life, including professional work and the parenting of young children. Since then, I’ve deepened and broadened my skills and learned other awareness practices such as trauma-informed mindfulness, cultural healing, and Focusing—an embodied awareness practice that helps people tune into the wisdom of their bodies.
These tools have been essential as my own caregiving journey continued, both as a caregiver and as the recipient of care. I began managing the care of my mother, who has dementia and lived in a different state until recently (May 2025). And, two years ago, I had another (yes!) sudden, life-threatening condition and spent a year recovering. It was my turn to be fully dependent on family and friends, and I learned a lot.
My approach to supporting caregivers draws from this lived experience as both a giver and receiver of care. I offer practical tools that caregivers can use at different stages in the arc of caregiving—from planning mode (if there is one) to full blown crisis and beyond.
I practice mindfulness in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh, who gave me the Dharma name “Joyful Path of the Heart” in 2003. I am an active member of the Opening Heart Mindfulness Community, where I chaired the board for many years, and of the Clear Skies Meditation Circle, which I co-founded in 2022. I have a BA in sociology from William Smith College, an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Certificate in Focusing from the International Focusing Institute. I live on a farm in Maryland and offer classes, retreats and one-on-one sessions that help caregivers learn ways to care for themselves whilst caring for those they love.
