Talking with an aging parent about giving up the car keys, accepting help, moving into assisted living, or managing finances can feel overwhelming. Even when you know the conversation is necessary, it can quickly turn into frustration, resistance, or conflict.

In this episode of The Care Collective Podcast, I'm joined by Edla Prevette, licensed mental health therapist and caregiver coach. Drawing from both her professional expertise and years of caring for her own parents, Edla shares practical strategies for communicating with aging loved ones in ways that build trust instead of tension.

Together, we discuss why connection should come before problem-solving, how to recognize when conversations are escalating, ways to regulate both yourself and your loved one during difficult moments, and how grief, role reversal, and sibling dynamics all impact the caregiving journey.

Whether you're just beginning to support an aging parent or you've been caregiving for years, this episode offers actionable tools to help you approach difficult conversations with more confidence and compassion.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why connection comes before cooperation
• How to approach difficult conversations without creating conflict
• Signs a conversation is beginning to escalate
• Communication techniques that help aging parents feel heard
• The emotional impact of role reversal between parents and adult children
• Navigating grief while your loved one is still living
• Managing sibling disagreements during caregiving
• Why understanding normal aging can improve communication
• Practical ways to build trust before tackling difficult decisions

Resources Mentioned

• Edla Prevette: https://www.edlaprevette.com
• Free One-Eighty Workbook: https://www.edlaprevette.com/oneeightyworkbook

Listen to The Care Collective Podcast

Follow the podcast and find all episodes here: https://linktr.ee/Carecollectivepodcast

About The Care Collective Podcast

The Care Collective Podcast shares honest conversations about caregiving, aging, grief, resilience, and the emotional realities of supporting the people we love. Our goal is to help caregivers feel seen, supported, and less alone.

What does it really mean to become a caregiver?

For many family caregivers, it isn't a role they choose—it's one that slowly finds them. One day you're the child, and the next you're managing doctor's appointments, medications, difficult conversations, and the emotional weight of watching someone you love change.

In this episode of The Care Collective Podcast, Mikayla sits down with Yasmin Shah, caregiver advocate, author of Caregiving for Seniors, and founder of VillageCore. Drawing from more than 20 years in the caregiving and aging space and her own experience caring for both of her parents, Yasmin shares honest stories and practical wisdom for navigating one of life's most challenging roles.

Together, they discuss:

• When you realize you've become a caregiver
• Why caregiver guilt can be so overwhelming—and how to replace it with self-compassion
• Supporting a loved one living with dementia
• Navigating difficult conversations about driving, independence, and end-of-life wishes
• Why planning ahead can reduce stress for the entire family
• How technology and AI may help simplify caregiving in the future
• The importance of protecting your own health, relationships, and emotional well-being while caring for someone else

Whether you're caring for an aging parent, supporting a spouse, or preparing for the future, this conversation offers practical advice and compassionate encouragement to remind you that you don't have to carry the weight of caregiving alone.

Connect with Yasmin:

VillageCore: https://villagecore.org

Find her book here: https://villagecore.org/book

Listen to The Care Collective Podcast

Follow the podcast and find all episodes here: https://linktr.ee/Carecollectivepodcast

About The Care Collective Podcast

The Care Collective Podcast shares honest conversations about caregiving, aging, grief, resilience, and the emotional realities of supporting the people we love. Our goal is to help caregivers feel seen, supported, and less alone.

Caring for an aging loved one often means managing prescriptions, watching for side effects, and trying to make sense of complicated medical information. But how do you know whether a new symptom is caused by a health condition, or by one of their medications?

In this episode of The Care Collective, Mikayla speaks with Bri, a geriatric pharmacist known as the Caregiver Pharmacist, about medication safety for older adults and the essential role caregivers play in the healthcare process.

Bri explains how older adults can end up taking dozens of medications, how one prescription can sometimes lead to a “prescribing cascade,” and why dizziness, falls, confusion, fatigue, appetite changes, and changes in mobility should never be dismissed.

They also discuss polypharmacy, deprescribing, medication side effects, pharmacogenomic testing, and how genetics can affect the way a person responds to certain prescriptions.

You’ll learn practical questions to bring to your loved one’s next medical appointment, including:

“What is this medication for?”

“Is this medication still necessary?”

“Could any medications be contributing to these symptoms?”

“What side effects should we watch for?”

“What is the long-term plan for this medication?”

Whether you are caring for a parent, spouse, grandparent, or another loved one, this conversation will help you feel more informed and confident when discussing medications with their healthcare providers.

This episode is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for personalized medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before starting, stopping, or changing a medication.

Find Bri's Instagram here:

@thecaregiverpharmacist

https://www.instagram.com/thecaregiverpharmacist

Listen to The Care Collective Podcast

Follow the podcast and find all episodes here: https://linktr.ee/Carecollectivepodcast

About The Care Collective Podcast

The Care Collective Podcast shares honest conversations about caregiving, aging, grief, resilience, and the emotional realities of supporting the people we love. Our goal is to help caregivers feel seen, supported, and less alone.

What happens when the person you're grieving... is yourself?

Caregiving has a way of quietly changing us. Not overnight, but little by little, until we wake up one day feeling like we've lost touch with the person we used to be.

In this episode, we're unpacking why that happens, what psychology teaches us about identity loss and grief, and why missing the person you were doesn't mean you'll never love the person you're becoming.

_______________________________

Listen to The Care Collective Podcast

Follow the podcast and find all episodes here: https://linktr.ee/Carecollectivepodcast

About The Care Collective Podcast

The Care Collective Podcast shares honest conversations about caregiving, aging, grief, resilience, and the emotional realities of supporting the people we love. Our goal is to help caregivers feel seen, supported, and less alone.

Episode Description

Have you ever looked at an old photo of yourself and wondered, What happened to that version of me?

Caregiving has a way of quietly reshaping our lives. One appointment becomes dozens. One act of helping becomes years of responsibility. And somewhere along the way, it's easy to lose sight of the person you were before caregiving became part of your identity.

In this solo episode, Mikayla explores the often-overlooked grief of losing yourself while caring for someone else. Together, we'll talk about identity, role engulfment, the invisible sacrifices caregivers make, and why missing your old life doesn't mean you love your person any less.

If you've ever felt like you've become "just the caregiver," this conversation is your reminder that you're still in there.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why caregivers often feel like they've lost their identity
• The invisible sacrifices that come with caregiving
• What role engulfment is and how it affects your sense of self
• Why grieving your old life is a normal part of the caregiving journey
• Small, meaningful ways to reconnect with yourself again

💛 If this episode resonated with you, please consider following the podcast, leaving a review, or sharing it with another caregiver who needs this reminder: You are more than the role you carry.

Listen to The Care Collective Podcast

Follow the podcast and find all episodes here: https://linktr.ee/Carecollectivepodcast

About The Care Collective Podcast

The Care Collective Podcast shares honest conversations about caregiving, aging, grief, resilience, and the emotional realities of supporting the people we love. Our goal is to help caregivers feel seen, supported, and less alone.

Have you ever felt guilty about a relationship that isn't what you hoped it would be?

Maybe you keep wondering if you should call. Reach out. Try one more time. Or maybe you're caring for someone whose illness has changed the person they used to be, and you can't shake the feeling that you're grieving, even though they're still here.

In this episode of The Care Collective Podcast, we're exploring a question that changed the way I understood my own emotions:

What if it isn't guilt? What if it's grief?

We'll talk about the hidden grief of losing someone while they're still alive, why caregivers often experience this long before a loved one dies, and how grief can show up in dementia, chronic illness, addiction, estrangement, and complicated family relationships.

Together, we'll explore:

• Why grief doesn't always begin with death
• The difference between guilt and grief
• Grieving the relationship you wish you had
• Why acceptance doesn't mean approval
• A simple exercise that helped me process complicated emotions

If you've ever found yourself mourning someone who is still here, this episode is a reminder that your grief is real, even if no one else can see it.

🎧 If this episode resonates with you, share it with another caregiver or someone navigating a complicated relationship. Sometimes the hardest grief is the one no one realizes you're carrying.

Listen to The Care Collective Podcast

Follow the podcast and find all episodes here: https://linktr.ee/Carecollectivepodcast

About The Care Collective Podcast

The Care Collective Podcast shares honest conversations about caregiving, aging, grief, resilience, and the emotional realities of supporting the people we love. Our goal is to help caregivers feel seen, supported, and less alone.

In this solo episode of The Care Collective Podcast, host Mikayla Cluxton opens up about one of the most emotionally complicated realities of caregiving: how do you continue caring for someone when their beliefs, words, or worldview deeply conflict with your own?

Drawing from her personal experiences working in elder care, Mikayla shares the emotional tension many caregivers quietly carry: navigating racist, sexist, homophobic, judgmental, or hurtful comments while still trying to provide compassionate, dignified care. She explores the emotional complexity of generational differences, the impact of dementia and cognitive decline on personality and behavior, and the hidden grief that can come with watching someone change over time.

This episode dives into the realities younger caregivers often face when caring for older generations raised in entirely different cultural and social environments. Mikayla also discusses caregiver burnout, emotional boundaries, compassion fatigue, identity struggles, and why caregivers deserve spaces where they can process difficult emotions honestly without shame or guilt.

Whether you are a family caregiver, CNA, nurse, healthcare worker, or someone supporting an aging loved one, this episode offers validation, nuance, and a reminder that compassion and discomfort can exist at the same time. If you’ve ever felt emotionally conflicted, hurt, exhausted, or isolated in your caregiving journey, this conversation will remind you that you are not alone.

Connect with The Care Collective

Follow the podcast for more conversations about caregiving, resilience, and navigating the realities of supporting aging loved ones.

https://linktr.ee/Carecollectivepodcast

Why does caregiving leave so many people physically exhausted, anxious, sick, and burned out? In this solo episode of The Care Collective Podcast, Mikayla dives into the hidden physical toll caregiving stress takes on the body: from chronic exhaustion and brain fog to sleep deprivation, hypervigilance, immune issues, and long-term health risks.

She explores research from the CDC, AARP, and the National Cancer Institute while offering compassionate, practical ways caregivers can begin supporting their own nervous systems and health again. If you’ve been surviving in crisis mode and wondering why your body feels like it’s falling apart, this episode is for you.

Connect with The Care Collective

Follow the podcast for more conversations about caregiving, resilience, and navigating the realities of supporting aging loved ones.

https://linktr.ee/Carecollectivepodcast

Grief is something we will all experience, but most people don’t know what to say or how to show up when someone is hurting.

In this episode of The Care Collective Podcast, I’m joined by grief educator and registered nurse Jane Dye to talk about what grief really looks like, and how to support someone through it without causing more harm.

We dive into the difference between grief and mourning, why grief isn’t linear, and how anticipatory grief shows up for caregivers before a loss even happens. Jane shares powerful insights from both her professional experience and personal loss, helping you better understand what grieving people actually need.

We also talk about the most common things people say that can unintentionally hurt, and what to say instead if you truly want to support someone through loss.

Whether you’re navigating grief yourself or trying to support someone you love, this conversation will help you feel more grounded, more prepared, and less alone.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• What grief actually is (and why it’s more than just loss)
• The difference between grief and mourning
• What not to say to someone who is grieving
• What grieving people truly need instead
• How to support someone without trying to “fix” their pain
• What anticipatory grief looks like for caregivers
• Why grief isn’t linear—and never follows a timeline
• How to communicate your needs when you’re the one grieving

Resources & Links:

Connect with Jane Dye: Website: jankdye.com

Listen to The Care Collective Podcast

Follow the podcast and find all episodes here: https://linktr.ee/Carecollectivepodcast

About The Care Collective Podcast

The Care Collective Podcast shares honest conversations about caregiving, aging, grief, resilience, and the emotional realities of supporting the people we love. Our goal is to help caregivers feel seen, supported, and less alone.

Caregiving doesn’t just change your life, it changes your relationship too.

In this episode of The Care Collective Podcast, we’re talking about the reality of navigating caregiving with a spouse. Because even if you have a partner, you can still feel completely alone in what you’re carrying.

Research shows that nearly 80% of caregivers experience strain in their relationship, but this is one of the least talked about parts of caregiving.

We’re diving into:

• Why caregiving puts pressure on marriages and relationships
• What it feels like when your spouse doesn’t fully understand
• The emotional toll of feeling unsupported while caregiving
• What real support actually looks like from a partner
• Practical ways to communicate your needs and stay connected

If you’ve ever thought, “Why don’t they just get it?”—this episode is for you.

You’re not too much for needing support. And you’re not alone in this.

Listen to The Care Collective Podcast

Follow the podcast and find all episodes here: https://linktr.ee/Carecollectivepodcast

About The Care Collective Podcast

The Care Collective Podcast shares honest conversations about caregiving, aging, grief, resilience, and the emotional realities of supporting the people we love. Our goal is to help caregivers feel seen, supported, and less alone.