Harriet Hodgson has cared for three generations of family members—her mother, husband, and twin grandchildren. The affirmations in this book come from Harriet’s eighteen years of caregiving experience, with more years to come. In 2013 her husband’s aorta dissected and he had three emergency operations. Surgeons managed to save her husband’s life, but he suffered a spinal stroke during the last operation, and his legs are paralyzed. Hodgson is his caregiver and, when she needed a boost, she started writing affirmations. Once she started, Hodgson couldn't stop writing them, and a few dozen grew into the hundreds in this collection. “Affirmations are a form of self-care,” Hodgson explains. “Reading an affirmation in the morning can set the tone for your caregiving day.”
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REVIEWS
Synopsis: Harriet Hodgson has cared for three generation of family members-her mother, husband, and twin grandchildren. The affirmations comprising "Affirmations for Family Caregivers" come from Harriet's eighteen years of caregiving experience, with more years to come. In 2013 her husband's aorta dissected and he had three emergency operations. Surgeons managed to save her husband's life, but he suffered a spinal stroke during the last operation, and his legs are paralyzed. Hodgson is his caregiver and, when she needed a boost, she started writing affirmations. Once she started, Hodgson couldn't stop writing them, and a few dozen grew into the hundreds in this collection. "Affirmations are a form of self-care", Hodgson explains. "Reading an affirmation in the morning can set the tone for your caregiving day."
Critique: Harriet Hodgson has been a freelance writer for 37+ years, is the author of 35 books, and thousands of print/ Internet articles. She is a member of the Association of Health Care Journalists and the Association for Death Education and Counseling. She is also a contributing writer for The Caregiver Space website, Open to Hope Foundation website, and The Grief Toolbox website. An affirmation is the act or an instance of affirming; state of being affirmed; the assertion that something exists or is true; something that is affirmed; a statement or proposition that is declared to be true; and the confirmation or ratification of the truth or validity of a prior judgment, decision, etc. "Affirmations for Family Caregivers" is an inherently thoughtful and thought-provoking, insightful and inspiring, comforting and supportive collection of single sentence affirmations that are very highly recommended for both senior center, community, and academic library collections. For the personal reading lists, especially for anyone involved in providing care for a loved one, it should be noted that "Affirmations for Family Caregivers" is also available in a Kindle edition ($5.49).
Mary Cowper, Reviewer, MBR Bookwatch, http://www.midwestbookreview.com
As a caregiver for my son I personally found this book positive, uplifting and full of inspiration. Having been exploring Positive Psychology for some time and working personally with affirmations, I see them as a great way to turn a negative into a positive without negating how the experience or issue has made you feel. Harriet Hodgson in her introduction, gives an open and honest account of the tragedies in her life and how the results have had a life-changing knock-on effect on her life as she has stepped in at various stages to become caregiver to a steady stream of family members over the years, including her mother, her husband, and her orphaned twin grandchildren.
However, whatever job you do, even if it’s one you love involving people you love, there are guaranteed to be aspects of it that will irritate, exasperate, cause anxiety and stress, or just plain get you down! Harriet gives some great examples of how she has dealt with these occasions by writing her own affirmations – for example, in Chapter One, ‘My Caregiving Tasks,’ she writes ‘Changes in plans don’t throw me off balance; they activate my coping skills’ or ‘Every job has its messy aspects, and that makes me appreciate the non-messy aspects more.’ Furthermore, acknowledging the time constraints on caregivers, Harriet Hodgson has created an easily readable book, simply formatted and defined carefully by chapters without too much content. Harriet Hodgson, I applaud you!
Prior to reading this book I had spent a lot of time reading other peoples’ affirmations, but I had never thought to have a go at writing my own which reflect on my own personal experiences as a caregiver. I am now inspired to do so! I give this book 5 out of 5 stars!
Harriet divides her book into easily identified chapters, and into easily read sections within the chapters to enable a ‘dip in’ book to slot into busy lives when appropriate.
Joanna Windsor