Douglas Clark Originator of Therapy for Carers and a Founding Member is delighted to have professionally teamed up with the outstanding Holistic Therapist namely Clair Taylor-Powell. Clair has agreed wholeheartedly to become a Founding Member of Therapy for Carers UK and we are delighted that she has accepted. Therapy for Carers UK as you may or may not know is a socially minded enterprise designed with one main goal in mind. That is to provide professional, qualified and experienced therapy at affordable rates to people who care for others.
Now here comes the question; What is a Carer? I think this information from Mind the Charity can best explain that simply and clearly so over to them: Information on exactly what a Carer is: So you see you may well be doing Care Work and not even know that the vital support and care you are providing is classified as being a Carer. Carers face significant demands and pressures which is where Therapy for Carers UK based in Leamington Spa & Warwickshire comes into play. We can tailor design therapy to your exact needs. After all we have been doing that week in and week out with our Private Practices. Our passion and drive comes because one of our Founding Members has been a long time Carer. As such there was recognised to be a significant gap in terms of professional qualified therapists who were offering affordable and accessible therapy for Carers. So if you like what we stand for then please like our Facebook page and also if you are a Carer and want our help and support you only need to ask by getting in touch. All the best to you from Therapy for Carers UK :-)
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Therapy for Carers UK are looking into ways in which we can best support you as Carers to enable you to manage your stress and to off load your cares and concerns in a safe, professional space with qualified professional therapists who have ethos, drive and commitment.
If you are a Carer and you have any suggestions as to how best we at Therapy for Carers UK could support you then please do get in touch. You can talk to our Founding Members free of charge on the phone in confidence and with no obligation to making any further commitment. As and when you do book into to see one of our professionals then there will be a professional fee, however, rest assured it will be subsidised to make it affordable to you. Carers need support, they need a listening ear. However, in my experience as a very highly qualified professional Clinical Hypnotherapist, Master Practitioner of NLP plus Certified Psychotherapist there is little or no high quality professional therapeutic support with well qualified professionals at affordable rates for Carers. If you do know of any we would be delighted to hear from you. I know that I could release a lot of a Carer's stress within one or two sessions of Hypnotherapy and NLP. I could also recommend other Therapists for Acupuncture or Holistic Healing even Massage Therapy as I am connected with a lot of these people. I can even recommend books and CD's and other resources which I have personally tried and tested. This will save you a lot of time, a lot of stress and worry. Basically through Therapy for Carers sessions we could get you feeling a lot better sooner than you think. So please do get in touch. We are here waiting on your call. Great Therapy does not happen by chance It happens by appointment. The first step is to call for help and advice free of charge or simply book in. Clair is a wonderful person, a real gem who has a very compassionate heart. She really cares about her therapy work and I am delighted to say that I have known her for a number of years and she continues to display the same energy, vibrancy and passion for helping others as I do. Much more will I hope follow on Clair. In the meantime it will be my aim to sincerely hope that she will become a Founding Member alongside my good self for Therapy for Carers. I will let you have a very good look at her own website and I would whole heartedly recommend Clair for therapy and I can honestly say there are very few Therapists I would say that about. She has my full endorsement. Please click here to access Clair's Therapy Website: Also to see more on Clair's Acupuncture please see this: Are you a Carer? Do you have an accurate picture or representation of what it means to be a Carer?
It took me time to realise that all of the various jobs I was doing for my Father placed me into that role. I just got on with it and did what I had to do to assist him as he became more elderly and developed illnesses. However, being registered now as his Carer both at our GP's and also within other organisations makes it easier to enlist support and help. If you are a not a Carer you will be surprised at just how challenging and stressful plus tiring it can be. It is of course also rewarding especially when things are going to plan. It can be infuriating when things are not. I have learnt not to sweat the small stuff so to speak and to be much more of a Nike person In other words Just Do It. I just get on and get active and do the jobs that have to be done. Less talking and much more action: This article is very good in giving a clear definition of what it means to be a Carer: What is a Carer? You may be wondering too. I must say that my own medical practice at Chase Meadow have been very supportive of both myself and my father. The GP's and the staff throughout the whole practice are welcoming and supportive. My local dispensing chemist which is called Day Lewis is also very helpful in fact they will go out of their way to set up repeat prescription services and even deliver to the door. The GP's of course are very busy people and have limited time scales to be able to support in practical terms but they can be a useful port of call to enable you to access information sources all in one area.
It is very important to tell your GP that you are a Carer. Many people do not see themselves in that role until it is explained to them that the jobs they are doing are part of being a Carer. Once the GP Practice knows you are a Carer they can help with monitoring your health, from time to time providing a listening ear, they can make referrals to Social Services for a Care Assessment to be done in which the Carer's own needs can be included. Also such things as free Flu Jabs can be provided plus support in terms of someone else being able to care if the Carer is ever ill. Link to How the GP can help: OK so I am a Carer but my caring role started when I was in my forties. Yes it is challenging as for the last ten years I have looked after my Father who has visual impairment and dementia. However, can you imagine having to do care work as a young carer and then have to go to school and aim to have a social life?
This is very hard work and so challenging. I take my hat off to these young people because I know myself how many balls I have to juggle with housework, medical appointments, finances and also my own professional work as a Clinical Hypnotherapist plus aiming to have some sort of social life. Yet compared to the life of a young carer my care role I personally feel is nowhere near as challenging. Young carers need a lot of support and help. I hope all schools and colleges will be very proactive and highlight the positive role of young carers. Schools in general are very supportive as are colleges. I for one feel that society needs to honour and celebrate the dedication of Carers as a whole but especially Young Carers. If there is anything I can do through Therapy for Carers to support and highlight the good will and good work of young carers I will! Link to video on Young Carers This short video is all about how being a Carer does not mean that your normal life has to stop completely. It can be a catalyst for opening up doors. It is important for Carers to get advice and to get support early. Carers UK is one support network that I really like the look of:
You can listen to one Carer's story here and find out the great advice he gives: Link to Video on Carers UK Recently I have been communicating with Naturopaths and even Medical Professionals some of whom have some very interesting proposals to assist with the care of a person with Dementia. I should always state that it is essential to get any person who is displaying signs of ill health to be assessed and checked by a GP and/or Medical Consultant.
That said it is also essential that we as human beings become self empowered and that we learn to take care of our own mind, body, spirit system. One area which is being investigated is the use of Coconut Oil for Senile Dementia. Betyl Amyloid Plaque is known to contribute to Alzheimer's disease. I think much more research is needed. However, there does appear to be some evidence to support the use of Coconut Oil in the treatment of Dementia: This video shows a woman Dr Mary Newport who set out to help her husband's Dementia. This is a fascinating video which definitely needs promotion and attention: Video Link to The Science Behind Coconut Oil for Dementia Hypnotherapy can be wonderful for both Carers and those that they Care for.
One word of advice in England and the UK in general, if you are going to select a Hypnotherapist please remember that the Hypnotherapy Industry is not regulated by Statutory Law. Therefore there are and can be many unregulated Hypnotherapists out there. However, there is now Voluntary Regulation and all the competent and capable Hypnotherapists must be signed up to and regulated by an Official Body. That Body in the UK is the CNHC. So please note well The Department Of Health Recommend That If You Are Looking For A Hypnotherapist You Consult With Someone That Is CNHC Registered. Here is a direct link to the CNHC www.cnhc.org.uk Speaking for myself it is essential for regulation. Voluntary regulation is a very welcome step. I am registered in full with the CNHC for Clinical Hypnotherapy. All competent, bona fide Hypnotherapists in this country will be signed up to not only the CNHC but also a Professional Organisation for Hypnotherapy such as the National Hypnotherapy Society, the General Hypnotherapy Register or the Association for Professional Hypnosis and Psychotherapy etc. This is essential for the public to know. You must select a Hypnotherapist that is signed up to and whose membership is current in the CNHC. This is to support and protect you in your use of Complementary Therapy. Thanks for reading. Here is a very good article with a lot of links embedded into it which explains clearly and simply what help and support should be available to you if you are a Carer. I think one of the most important points it makes is with regard to help from Social Services and a Community Care Assessment which accesses the person being cared for to see what their needs are and to identify support they can expect from Social Services. You as a Carer can have your own needs included in this and this can be very helpful for you as a Carer to identify help and support for you.
You see there are two people involved or perhaps more than two if you care for more than one family member. My point is that the Carer must be included into the equation. The Carer needs help, assistance and support to protect and maintain their own mental and physical well being. For without the Carer the person to be cared for or persons to be cared for inevitably suffer. In my own experience of caring for a family member for many years now I have found that there appears to be a lot of media attention and publicity about support for Carers especially with regard to dementia and yet at the local or ground level any support or help especially of a practical nature is limited especially if one has to pay privately for it. This is not to denigrate the many excellent and helpful charities and support groups which do brilliant work. It is simply to highlight my own experience. I care for someone with both visual impairment and dementia. I have found people well meaning but in terms of practical support I have found the help and support very limited. I think that the voluntary organisations are stretched to the limit. They are in need of a lot more funding and need support and help themselves. I would also state that from my experience with Social Services for Elderly Care they are very stretched in terms of finances and funding for help and support even for the person to be cared for. They are prioritising only the most urgent and dire cases. If one can pay there seems to be no priority to carry out a Care Assessment but from my understanding this is a right. That being said please do look at this article which follows by clicking on the Link. It is a very good article setting out clearly rights and responsibilities. www.nhs.uk/CarersDirect/carerslives/gettinghelp/Pages/Caringforcarers.aspx |
Douglas Clark Founding Member, Author and Editor of Therapy for Carers Blog"I have a passion and love for helping people like you to be free from limitations and to allow you to become the very best person you can be! Archives
October 2015
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