Caregiver's Compass

Strain and conflict we can experience in a romantic relationship while also caregiving for a parent, child, sibling or other family member, with Barry Jacobs and Julie Mayer (Episode 124)

Stephanie Muskat Season 5 Episode 124

Caring for someone can add complexity and conflict in a romantic relationship. Whether your partner disagrees with your decisions and beliefs regarding caregiving or whether they feel you are not present for them the way you once were, this is for any caregiver experiencing changes in a romantic relationship.

Barry Jacobs and his wife Julie Mayer are clinical psychologists who specialize in family therapy and caregiving and provide their perspectives on different case examples in this enlightening episode.


About Barry: Barry J. Jacobs is a clinical psychologist, family therapist, and a Principal for Health Management Associates, a national health care consulting firm. A former magazine journalist, he is the author of
The Emotional Survival Guide for Caregivers: Looking After Yourself and Your Family While Helping an Aging Parent (Guilford, 2006) and coauthor with his wife, Julia L. Mayer, PsyD, of AARP Meditations for Caregivers: Practical, Emotional, and Spiritual Support for You and Your Family (Hachette, 2016), AARP Love and Meaning After 50: The 10 Challenges to Great Relationships—and How to Overcome Them (Hachette, 2020), and The AARP Caregiver Answer Book (Guilford, 2025). He has also written a self-help column for caregivers for AARP.org since 2013. An honorary board member of the Well Spouse Association and a former director of behavioral sciences for the Crozer Health Family Medicine Residency in Springfield, PA, USA, he maintains a psychotherapy practice in Media, Pennsylvania, specializing in supporting individuals with chronic and serious illness and their caregivers.

Find Barry on X: @drbarryjjacobs

Find Barry and Julie’s new book, The AARP Caregiver Answer Book: https://www.amazon.com/AARP-Caregiver-Answer-Book/dp/1462557872

About Julie: Julie L. Mayer is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Media, Pennsylvania, who has specialized for three decades in helping women in caregiver roles, as well as those with troubled marriages and histories of sexual trauma. She is the author of the novel A Fleeting State of Mind (2014) and coauthor of AARP Meditations for Caregivers and AARP Love and Meaning After 50. She is a former president of the board of PSCP—The Psychology Network. Since 2016 she has cohosted the podcast Shrinks on Third on psychology and social justice.

Find Julie on X: @JuliaLMayer23



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