ERIC Number: EJ1404350
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1541-1796
EISSN: EISSN-1541-180X
Accessible Joy: Storytelling as a Processing Tool to Cope with the Demands of Caregiving
Kenner, Daniel
Teaching Artist Journal, v20 n1-4 p3-13 2022
In the spring of 2022, six "caregivers," defined in the loosest of parameters as one who "is" providing or "has" provided care for an ill individual, participated in a five-week residency that utilized storytelling as a processing tool to cope with the demands of caregiving. To balance the importance of remaining grateful in the present with preserving the past, caregivers shared stories that left them open to heartache, but also to great joy and deep and meaningful connection. Each 75-minute session found the Community in Dialogue as caregivers opined on thought-provoking questions that directly scaffolded into the weekly Write/Share. The resulting shares improved and restored individual and relationship narratives and provided aesthetic distance to reflect on guilt, burnout, and disappointment from support systems. Inspired by love, memory, and self-discovery, caregivers shared with sincerity and empowerment, and built for themselves troves of accessible joy. At the end of the residency, caregivers self-reported not only that they were more prepared for uncertainty and able to appreciate the meaningful work they had accomplished to make their loved ones comfortable, but that they also felt their loved ones' true essences with less effort. Each participant gained perspective and empathy, felt heard and understood, and became an integral part of what has proved to be a lasting caregiver community.
Descriptors: Caregivers, Story Telling, Artists, Facilitators (Individuals), Community, Social Support Groups, Emotional Response, Theater Arts, Writing (Composition), Caregiver Attitudes, Narration, Psychological Patterns
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A