Communication Archives - Aging, caregiving and the journey through the second half of life

Free-Access 30-Minute Video: Closing the Communication Gap with Our Aging Parents

October 3, 2020

I created this video for adult children and their aging parents. It is information that both generations need to know about the psychology of the last phase of life. It restores dignity and purpose in the lives of older adults,…

My Digital Footpath…

September 24, 2020

Below is a blessing from the Celtic mystic, John O’Donohue that I am offering to all you who follow my spiritual wanderings on this digital footpath. Some of you I know and love. Your presence and friendship are divine scaffolding…

The Drama of Control Never Gets Easier and Never Goes Away

August 2, 2020

Control is the current we ride to the end. Sometimes It’s buried in a dilemma between two unsavory choices and no escape hatch. Sometimes heroic efforts to facilitate control provoke dilemmas we never saw coming. My point is that control…

Evidence-Based Inquiry Into Driving Skills

July 30, 2020

At some point, driving gets away from our aging parents. It’s an insidious process that lulls older adults into a false sense of security that their driving skills are still adequate. Adult children see a different picture of “unsafe driving”…

What the developmental tasks tell us about older adults

June 28, 2020

“Developmental stages in life are characterized by sets of oppositional tasks that need to be completed so the individual can move on to the next stage. These tasks are the drivers of personality growth, the internal engine that propels a…

The Obvious Audience No One Is Educating

May 29, 2020

I want to share with you a story about “How To Say It To Seniors” found a new audience unbeknownst to me. A few years ago, a colleague of mine shared how he used my book with older adults who…

Home Rules: We’re Not Going Anywhere

May 21, 2020

Older adults see where they live as the Alamo and will make their last stand defending it. We advance with logic, manipulations, and threats, and they use any means at their disposal to repel us. Here’s why. 1. The place…

We will never allow isolation to carry the day…

May 3, 2020

In his article, Coronavirus requires physical distance in end-of-life care. But we won’t let isolation prevail, Rev. Thomas Ryberg, a chaplain resident at Albany Med in Albany, New York,…

Informed Control: The Art of Alignment

March 3, 2020

“I can’t believe I have to take a driving evaluation.” Nancy could hear how upset her father was at the idea of being retested to keep his driver’s license, “I have been a licensed driver for over 50 years, and…

And then an aging parent moves in…

February 17, 2020

When an aging parent moves in, no one can predict how it will work out. What looks good in the beginning can come undone in sudden and distressing ways. Adult children need to frame moving in as “one step” in…