Dr. Samantha Lang on Thriving in Your Family Caregiver Relationship
Dr. Samanatha Lang, PhD is a licensed psychologist focusing on anxiety, depression and life transitions with specializations in neuro and geriatric psychology and family caregiver support. Working closely with family caregivers and the loved one’s they care for (the care partner unit) Dr. Lang has conducted break through care partner research, guiding family caregivers to focus on the relationship between care partners versus working primarily on caregiver coping strategies.
Dr. Lang focuses much of her work within the geriatric community and has provided particular attention to family caregiver issues. In addition, she is the founder of the Lifespan Flourishing Group and consults with organizations to develop best practices for improving research and clinical care for older adults and their family caregivers.
Our conversation addressed the importance of reducing the incidence of family caregiver stress and burnout. Dr. Lang introduced the practice of "shared identity” into her work in an effort to bring family caregivers back to why they deliver attention and care to their loved ones. Her insights about the importance of finding the humanity in the role of caregiving, along with the need for effective two-way communication between care partners, are essential to ensure their share needs and values are realized. The opportunity is for care partners to work together to celebrate their relationship and be the best of themselves during their caregiving journey.
“Providing care for our loved ones is rooted in our life-long relationship, not just family obligation.”
