Dasha Kiper is the clinical consulting director of support groups at The CaringKind (formerly 'The Alzheimer's Association'). She was born in Russia, raised in San Francisco, and makes her home in New York. She first became a live-in caregiver as a graduate student at Columbia University where she received an MA in Clinical Psychology. For the past decade she has counseled caregivers, led support groups, and trained and supervised mental health professionals, as well as former caregivers, who now lead support groups.
It is no simple matter to live with a person who blatantly disregards the rules of time, order, and continuity. So instead of offering platitudes or words of spiritual redemption, I want to normalize the caregiver's denial, anger, frustration, and helplessness by explaining why these miscommunications happen. This, I hope, will validate their struggles and remove the stigma of failing to live up to an impossible ideal. -- Dasha Kiper * Travellers to Unimaginable Lands *