In the Thick of Care guided by Jenn Fredericks - Prosilience Coach

03/25/2026

Honored to be opening this year’s Child Life Conference.

Child Life professionals do extraordinary work supporting patients and families through some of the hardest moments of their lives.

What’s often less visible is the capacity it takes to keep showing up that way.

The emotional load.
The ongoing vigilance.
The responsibility of being steady for others, again and again.

In the Thick of Care’s work focuses on supporting that layer.

This session is designed so professionals leave feeling more empowered and resilient, not by doing more, but by learning how to stabilize their capacity in real time.

Grateful to be part of a conference that recognizes the importance of caring for the people who care for others.

Announcing the opening keynote speaker for the Child Life Conference this May in Chicago!

Jenn Fredericks brings a powerful blend of lived experience and professional insight to her session, Sustaining Your Service: Managing Personal Energy in Heart-Based Work.

With over 30 years as a chronic illness patient and more than a decade supporting her daughter through a brain tumor journey, Jenn understands pediatric care from every angle.

Join us as Jenn shares practical strategies to strengthen resilience and help you continue showing up with clarity, purpose, and heart.

03/22/2026

Wearing my colorful socks today in honor of my new cousin Juni!

03/21/2026

It’s the first day of spring.

Here in the Midwest, this is when the ground starts to show what’s been happening underneath. As the snow melts, you can see where the land held and where it didn’t.

Erosion becomes visible.
So does new growth.

Caregiving is like that.

From the outside, it can look like you’re holding everything together.

But underneath, there’s constant vigilance, emotional weight, decisions that never fully stop.

Over time, that takes something from you.

Not because you’re doing anything wrong.
But because caregiving often asks more than one person can sustainably hold.

That’s capacity erosion.

It can look like reacting in ways you don’t recognize, exhaustion that doesn’t lift or feeling like you can never fully step away.

This isn’t failure.

It’s your system telling the truth about what it’s been carrying.

And it’s not only showing you what’s worn down.

It’s also showing you what’s still there.
The care you keep giving.
The parts of you that are still alive underneath it all.

You don’t need your life to change before you allow yourself to live inside it.

But you do need support that helps you hold what you’re carrying.

⸻

I created the Caregiver Capacity Reset™ to do exactly that.

Most organizations bring this in to support their caregivers directly.
If you’re part of one, share this with them.

And if there’s enough individual interest, I’ll open a small group.

03/15/2026

Caregivers often notice burnout too late.
Something usually shifts much earlier.
I’m asking caregivers today: What’s the earliest sign that you’re getting stretched too thin?
Go vote in today’s Story poll and share your experience.

03/05/2026

How can we be where our feet are?

So many caregivers live in “when.”

When this gets better.
When the scan is clear.
When life calms down.

But what if we didn't have to wait?

We can feel the way we want to feel even when circumstances are not what we hoped.

Not by pretending.
Not by bypassing.

But by asking:

How do I want to show up today?
What is one small way I can move toward that feeling right now?

You do not have to put your life on hold to survive it.

🎧 Link in bio for full conversation.

02/21/2026

If you’re caring for someone, this day includes you.

The coordinating.
The advocating.
The medical language you’ve learned.
The way your body stays alert even when you try to rest.

Caregiving is emotional work. Some days feel steady. Some feel heavy. Sometimes hope feels strong. Sometimes it feels thin. That wave does not mean you are failing. It means you are living inside uncertainty with someone whose life matters to you.

You are allowed to feel all of it.

Today I honor your endurance, discernment, skill, frustration, tenderness and your persistence when you’re tired.

True steadiness in caregiving is not perfect circumstances. It’s the moment you feel grounded enough to breathe. The moment you remember you’re still here.

Today is about seeing the full weight of what you carry and honoring it.

02/19/2026

There’s a quieter kind of exhaustion that doesn’t look like burnout.

You’re still showing up. Still handling what needs to be handled. From the outside, nothing dramatic has changed.
But inside, something feels thinner.

Decisions take more effort. Small setbacks land harder. You respond a little later. You say a little less. Your energy narrows in ways that are hard to explain.

It’s not weakness. And it’s not a lack of commitment.
It’s what happens when emotional responsibility stretches on without enough internal replenishment.

I was sitting in a new workspace this week, thinking about how different everything feels when there is internal steadiness. The circumstances don’t have to change. But the way you hold them can.

Carewell Circle isn’t about fixing your life.

It’s about strengthening your internal capacity so you can experience a real sense of calm, even in medical uncertainty, even in hard conversations, even in the guilt that sometimes comes with taking a breath.

If you’ve noticed your energy thinning, that’s not failure. It’s a signal.
Carewell Circle is open. You can join with a two week free trial and see if it feels supportive.
You don’t have to wait until you’re burned out to find your way to feel steady again. Link in bio.

02/10/2026

You agree to one thing. Then the plan changes.
An appointment runs long. A task gets added. A decision is made without you.

You absorb it because speaking up costs energy you don’t have.

This is how capacity erodes for family caregivers. Not all at once, but through small moments where consent quietly disappears.

You don’t restore capacity by pushing harder.
You restore it by noticing what is no longer okay and letting that awareness guide your next choice.

You’re not failing. You’re responding to conditions that ask too much.

01/27/2026

One year ago this past weekend, I was in Times Square, watching myself on a billboard.

So unexpected. So memorable. Once in a lifetime experience.

Yet what stayed with me even more were the Resilient AF people I met.

Forty-eight hours together can forge connection in ways you don’t anticipate.


📷 Rony Armas

The Global Resilience Project

01/19/2026

“Trouble is in the land; confusion all around…
But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars.”
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

01/15/2026

If you’re caring for someone long-term, and you feel stuck, foggy, or unsure what comes next it’s not because you’re doing something wrong.

A lot of caregiving happens in situations that don’t resolve neatly.
There isn’t always a clear decision. There isn’t always a next step. And there’s often no timeline you can trust.

Still, you’re often expected to: - know what you need - explain what’s happening - make the “right” call - stay strong and keep moving

That’s a lot to carry while you’re already carrying so much.

Sometimes the most supportive thing isn’t figuring everything out.
It’s finding a little steadiness inside the uncertainty.

Feeling unsure doesn’t mean you’re failing.
It means you’re responding honestly to a situation that’s still unfolding.

And that makes sense.

It’s okay to take this one day at a time.

12/19/2025

Sometimes the hardest part of caregiving isn’t the lack of support.

It’s the amount of it.

So many posts.
So many tips.
So many “try this” suggestions.

When you’re already tired, even helpful things can feel like too much.

If you’ve ever saved a post and thought,
“I’ll come back to this when I have more energy,” this is for you.

Relief doesn’t come from doing more.
It doesn’t come from trying harder.

Relief begins with a pause.

You don’t need to catch up.
You don’t need to optimize.
You’re allowed to rest inside the moment you’re in.

That’s enough for today.