Building Your Caregiver Toolkit: Supporting a Loved One With Depression

Building Your Family Caregiver Toolkit: Strategies for Supporting Loved Ones to Get Well

As a family caregiver, you likely hold many roles; schedule coordinator, finance manager, advocate, cheerleader, spouse, parent, child, and sibling — not to mention your external relationships like boss, employee, and volunteer. But when your loved one is in a depressive episode, you may need to take on even more roles and responsibilities as you support them in getting professional care. Your self-care may take a back seat as you try to balance everything. Unfortunately, ignoring your own wellness often leads to stress, overwhelm, and, sometimes, your own battle with depression. This is where your caregiver toolkit can come in to provide hope and keep you well. Join Families for Depression Awareness to learn what resources you need to build a robust caregiver toolkit.

Presenter Bios

Susan Weinstein, JD, Co-Executive Director, has been primarily responsible for programs and finances at Families for Depression Awareness since 2012. Susan was diagnosed with depression in her teens and has drawn from her personal experiences to inform FFDA’s curriculum. She has worked in nonprofits and local government throughout her career, generally in a non-legal capacity. She holds several volunteer positions, including serving on the Executive Committee and as Governance Committee Chair of the Massachusetts Coalition for Suicide Prevention and holding a variety of elected and appointed seats in her town government since 1992. A native of South Florida, Susan is a graduate of Wellesley College and the Boston University School of Law.

Arielle Cohen, LCSW, is the Programs Manager with Families for Depression Awareness. Arielle’s passion for mental health advocacy stems from experience with a diagnosis of depression and loss of a family member to suicide. Utilizing both professional and personal wisdom, Arielle provides oversight to FFDA’s programs, volunteers, and social media platforms. Arielle is a trained facilitator in the Alternatives to Suicide approach with the Wild Flower Alliance (formerly Western Mass Recovery Learning Community). She received her BSW from Westfield State University and earned her Master of Social Work with a concentration in mental health from Boston College in 2017.

This webinar was funded by Alameda County Department of Adult and Aging Services, Contra Costa County Area Agency on Aging, the City of San Francisco’s Department of Disability and Aging Services, San Mateo County Aging and Adult Services, and the California Department of Aging.