Caregiver Support Counselling

Support for the person providing care

You may be supporting a partner, parent, child, friend or another person living with illness, disability or changing care needs. That role can hold love, meaning and closeness alongside exhaustion, frustration, uncertainty or grief. There may be practical decisions to make while you are also trying to maintain work, relationships and your own health.

Caregiver support counselling focuses on your experience. It offers room to speak about feelings that may be difficult to acknowledge elsewhere, consider what you need and explore choices within the realities of your situation. Caring about someone and having limits can both be true.

What you might bring to counselling

• Feeling stretched between caregiving, work, family and time for yourself
• Guilt about resting, asking for help or saying that something is too much
• Anger, sadness, loneliness or worry about what may happen next
• Changes in your relationship with the person receiving care
• Disagreements about responsibilities, decisions or expectations
• Losses involving shared plans, independence, identity or connection

You do not need to arrive with a clear explanation of how you feel. You and your counsellor can begin with the situations that have been weighing on you and work out what kind of support would be useful.

Exploring emotions, boundaries and support

Counselling may involve noticing how you respond under pressure, understanding the expectations you hold for yourself and making space for conflicting feelings. You might explore how to ask for help, communicate a limit or discuss a difficult change with someone close to you. The aim is to develop responses that fit your circumstances and values, rather than another list of things you should be doing.

Practical support and counselling serve different purposes. HealthLink BC’s caregiver guidance encourages looking after your own needs and asking for help. Counselling can sit alongside family, peer and community support. It does not provide respite care, personal care, case management or medical advice.

Meet Joel Meszaros

Joel Meszaros, Registered Clinical Counsellor, works with the emotional and practical adjustments that can accompany illness, disability, injury and caregiving. His warm, collaborative approach gives you room to explore how these experiences affect relationships, identity, confidence and direction.

Joel’s work draws on relational, attachment-based and experiential approaches. You can ask how he would balance practical coping with deeper exploration of emotions and relationship patterns. His profile describes his training and offers consultation and booking options.

Joel has completed an Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT) externship.

Questions before you book

Can I seek support for myself rather than the person receiving care?

Yes. Caregiver counselling can focus on your own feelings, needs and choices. Ask your counsellor whether individual sessions or another format would be appropriate for your goals.

What if grief is part of my experience?

Changes in health and roles can involve losses as well as ongoing responsibilities. You may want to explore grief and loss counselling alongside caregiver support.

Find the right counsellor and format

Joel offers virtual counselling. Confirm that he can work with you where you will physically attend sessions. For in-person counselling at Wellspring’s Vancouver office, compare the profiles of counsellors who offer that format.

A free 15-minute consultation is an opportunity to discuss fit. Regular counselling sessions are separate, paid appointments. Review the current fees and policies and confirm any benefits coverage for your chosen counsellor’s designation.

Explore Joel’s profile and consultation options Compare the team