The Caregivers Podcast

This week, Dr. Mark discusses one of the most difficult emotions for caregivers to admit: resentment. He is joined by Elaine K. Sanchez, founder of caregiverhelp.com and author of Letters from Madelyn, to explore why this feeling builds when caregivers are isolated, overwhelmed, and unsupported. Elaine shares her expertise on how to navigate the complex emotions of caregiving without feeling like...

In this episode of The Caregivers Podcast, host Dr. Mark Ropeleski sits down with certified financial planner, personal finance journalist, and author Beth Pinsker to unpack one of the least discussed yet most challenging aspects of looking after a loved one: financial caregiving . Whether you are quietly stepping in to help an aging parent sort through bills, managing an unexpected legal crisis,...

This week, Dr. Mark sits down with Angela Caldwell, a licensed marriage and family therapist specializing in high-conflict families. Together, they discuss the emotional toll of caregiving within a fractured family, how to coordinate care when siblings strongly disagree, and strategies for protecting yourself from caregiver resentment and complicated grief. If you are the person trying to keep car...

What happens when an estranged parent becomes sick, dependent, or close to death? In this episode of The Caregivers Podcast, Dr. Mark Ropeleski speaks with Dr. Joshua Coleman, clinical psychologist and author of The Rules of Estrangement: Why Adult Children Cut Ties and How to Heal the Conflict, about family estrangement, caregiving, guilt, boundaries, and end-of-life decisions. They discuss why a...

In this week's episode,  Dr. Mark is joined by clinical health and rehabilitation psychologist Dr. Laura Katz (co-founder of Endometriosis 360 and assistant professor at McMaster University) for a deeply honest conversation about endometriosis. Endometriosis affects roughly 1 in 10 women and girls of reproductive age, yet it is frequently minimized as "bad cramps" or a minor period issue. Dr. Katz...

In this week's episode, Dr. Mark sits down for a deeply moving, brutally honest conversation with returning guest Kate Washington. Kate is a writer and former caregiver whose reality was completely upended when her former husband was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer, shifting their dynamic from equal partners to nurse and patient. Kate opens up about the invisible mental load of caregiving, the...

In this weeks episode, Dr. Mark Ropeleski sits down with hospice nurse, clinical educator, and content creator Les Harp (@thathospiceguy). After unexpectedly becoming a caregiver and losing two wives to cancer, Les turned his profound personal grief into a life mission to educate families and healthcare professionals about the reality of end-of-life care. In this deeply moving and honest conversat...

In this episode of The Caregivers Podcast, host Dr. Mark Ropeleski sits down with senior living expert Janice Martin to unpack the hidden traps families fall into during this challenging stage. From navigating the guilt of a "never put me in a home" promise to managing intense sibling friction over inheritance versus care costs, this conversation brings to light the realities families are often af...

Caregiving is often framed through the lens of love and duty, but what happens when it becomes an old survival role? In this episode, Dr. Mark Ropeleski sits down with trauma-informed coach Greg Fougere to explore the deep-rooted family patterns, nervous system responses, and "self-abandonment" that often drive the default caregiver. We dive into the concept of parentification - where children bec...

Are you a family caregiver who feels trapped by unfair family dynamics? In this episode of The Caregivers Podcast, Dr. Mark Ropeleski welcomes author Amy Vasterling to discuss how family conditioning can strip away a caregiver’s identity. Amy shares insights from her book, Know, explaining why boundaries are often treated as betrayal in enmeshed families and how caregivers can reclaim their inner...

When is it truly time to transition a parent or loved one into assisted living? In this episode of The Caregivers Podcast, Dr. Mark Ropeleski sits down with senior placement expert Janice Martin to pull back the curtain on the elder care industry. From navigating the 72-hour Medicare discharge crisis to the staggering reality of home care costs (which can exceed $21,000/month), Janice provides a r...

This week on The Caregivers Podcast, Dr. Mark sits down with media psychologist Dr. Pamela Rutledge to discuss the "unseen guest" in every caregiving environment: the social media feed.  Caregiving already demands immense emotional steadiness, but how do we maintain that clarity when our phones are designed to keep us in a state of hyper-vigilance? We explore the psychological impact of the attent...

Is it just a sports car and a new wardrobe, or is there something deeper calling from within? In this episode of The Caregiver's Podcast, Dr. Mark welcomes back psychotherapist Bev Blaney to peel back the layers of the "midlife crisis." Moving past the Hollywood cliches, Bev and Mark explore the profound internal reckoning that occurs when the life we’ve built no longer feels like our own. They di...

This week on The Caregivers Podcast, host Dr. Mark Ropeleski sits down with Dr. Ramona Coelho, a family physician and leading voice in Canada’s MAID (Medical Assistance in Dying) debate. Together, they take a deep dive into the clinical and moral shifts occurring within Canada’s healthcare system. Dr. Coelho shares harrowing insights into "Track 2" cases—where patients who are not terminally ill a...

In this episode of The Caregiver’s Podcast, Dr. Mark sits down with licensed mental health professional Heather Gray to discuss a complex and often silent struggle: caregiving for an emotionally immature or "emotionally limited" parent. When a parent lacks the capacity to meet their child's emotional needs, the wounds don't simply disappear with age. In fact, the transition into a caregiving role...

In this episode of the Caregivers Podcast, Dr. Mark sits down with Krista Carr, CEO of Inclusion Canada, to discuss the complex and often controversial reality of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) in Canada. Since its legalization, Canada has recorded over 76,000 MAID deaths. While many see an idealized version of a peaceful end-of-life choice, this conversation explores the "shadow track" of MAI...

In this episode of The Caregivers Podcast, Dr. Mark sits down with Dr. Shaili Jain - a Stanford psychiatrist and world-renowned PTSD expert—to provide a practical "playbook" for caregivers. We dive deep into the neuroscience of trauma, explaining why logic fails during a trigger and how caregivers can protect their own nervous systems from "vicarious traumatization."   Support our guest: ▶️ https:...

This week on The Caregivers Podcast, Dr. Mark sits down with returning guest Dr. Dean Tripp, a professor of Psychology, Anesthesiology, and Urology at Queens University. Together, they pull back the curtain on the neuroscience of chronic pain, explaining how it physically alters the brain and why the traditional medical model often fails those in pain. Dr. Tripp introduces the C.A.R.E. Method, a p...

In this episode of The Caregivers Podcast, Host Dr. Mark sits down with Susan Ackland, a psychotherapist with decades of experience who has spent the last 10 years navigating the complexities of caring for a mother with Alzheimer’s and a father-in-law with Lewy body dementia, all while raising children and maintaining her professional practice. Click here to watch a video of this episode. Follow u...

In this episode of The Caregivers Podcast, Dr. Mark sits down with Elizabeth Miller, founder of Happy Healthy Caregiver, to tackle the question nobody wants to say out loud: When parents age and need care, what do their adult children actually owe them? As a veteran podcaster and sandwich generation caregiver, Elizabeth shares the raw reality of balancing a career and children while managing the d...

Why do Indigenous communities distrust the healthcare system, and how do we fix it? In this episode of The Caregivers Podcast, Dr. Mark sits down with Dr. Jamaica Cass - the first Indigenous woman in Canada to earn both an MD and a PhD. Dr. Cass shares her mission to decolonize medicine, from reshaping medical school curricula to building localized health education programs. Click here to watch a...

In this episode of The Caregivers Podcast, host Dr. Mark sits down with Cynthia Neilson to discuss the emotional and practical realities of raising a child with a rare heart-lung condition. Cynthia shares her journey from the initial shock of a complex diagnosis at SickKids to the "stress tests" of everyday parenting—navigating medical equipment at bedtime, setting boundaries with school, and even...

In this episode of The Caregivers Podcast, author Kate Washington joins us to discuss her powerful memoir, Already Toast, and the invisible crisis of caregiver burnout. We explore the raw emotional realities of spousal caregiving, the "slow slide" into medical responsibility, and how systemic failures in the healthcare system leave families feeling abandoned.  Kate Washington is the author of Alre...

Is caregiving consuming your life, or are you surviving the work? In this episode of The Caregivers Podcast, Dr. Mark breaks down why the "hero narrative" is breaking caregivers and why 2026 is the year we shift from mindless sacrifice to strategic sustainability. We explore the 10 things that are IN (like boundaries as a clinical skill and energy management) and the 10 things that are officially...

In this powerful episode of The Caregivers Podcast, Dr. Mark Ropeleski sits down with Linda Silas, President of the Canadian Federation of Nurses' Unions (CFNU), to discuss the precarious state of nursing in 2026. Far beyond simple "burnout," Linda describes a "moral injury" occurring across Canada—a systemic failure where nurses are forced into 30-hour shifts, face escalating workplace violence,...