Linda Thorson, PhD, Clinical Psychologist - Client, Caregiver Coaching

“I am a clinical psychologist in practice for 25 years. I am very experienced in helping people through crises and difficult decisions. But as my aging mother becomes more fragile and is slipping into early dementia, I have become aware that I myself need expert help with the crises and decisions being presented to me in my own life. I’m finding myself over-responsible and overwhelmed with the caretaker role in my mother’s end chapter.

I asked Marnee Weber for a consultation. Smart move on my part. Marnee has a remarkable talent for overview. She comes to the table with empathy, experience, and an uncanny capacity to find the right language to translate the Caretaker Crisis into one of Caretaker Wellness and Personal Growth.

It’s still very forefront for me, that my mother is declining. My conversation with Marnee has put that into a productive perspective. I have a much better understanding about what I can and cannot do: my grand plans and wishes versus how I can actually respond to each next challenge.

I appreciate her skills and expertise and the ways she has translated these into her profession. It's different from therapy. It's different from coaching (as I understand coaching). What I experience is that she is a bold and articulate voice that allows me to step forward into my own life timing and the reality of what's in front of me...with focus on compassion for myself and the difficult task of giving up imagined control.

She is masterful in both her empathic ability to "be me" in the dilemma and to be practical about the steps-at-hand. She stays on topic and keeps the agenda lovingly forefront. She separates my emotional entanglement with it all from my capacity to act in the direction of Mom's safety. And, thus, she calls forward my best thinking and intuition. I now have a deeper respect for my Mom’s journey. And I’m reminded that my own self care is instrumental in the unfolding Grace of my mother’s end chapter.

I am, as a psychologist, a very informed ‘consumer.’ I wouldn’t recommend Marnee if I didn’t believe in her exceptional talent. She’s the difference that made a difference.”