Why Taking Care of Yourself Matters When You're a Caretaker . . .
How would the quality of your life
change if you could quickly reset
your nervous system so that you could
be more effective as a caregiver?
Why it's so important to resource yourself as a caretaker ...
Being a support person to a loved one in need is no little thing! Many of us are called into the role of caregiver at some point in our lives, and it is very easy for us to lose sight of our
own care while we're tending to others. But the most important
gift we can give to those we are caring for, is to cultivate our stress resilience in any way we can.
Our Cost of Caretaking course will teach you how to do exactly that! Using simple, body-focused tools that you can apply right away, you will learn how to shift your nervous system responses and find your way back to greater balance & ease
even in the most stressful moments. And that's one of the most effective ways you can continue to show up for your loved ones.
Rewrite your relationship to caretaking with these simple,
tools that can be used whenever and wherever needed.
The Cost of Caring + Caretaking: Understanding the Impact of Secondary Stress + Trauma ($65 US)
There are so few resources out there for people who are struggling with the very real and challenging experience of shouldering the cost of caretaking loved ones. What resources exist are often entirely geared for professionals in front line service (such as mental health providers, nurses and first responders) who are suffering from burnout. And yet, the role of support person is one that many of us occupy in our lives. Whether it is caring for a loved one with health or cognitive decline challenges, nurturing a child with neural diversity or behavioral challenges, supporting a family member or friend who has suffered an act of violence, or shouldering a partner who is uncovering memories of early life abuse, the cost of caring and caretaking is a real concern.
This course is designed to support you in your role as caregiver by introducing you to the power of your nervous system. Learn a simple working framework to better understand the nervous system as well as a whole suite of effective and easy-to-apply, body-focused practices which will help you build greater stress resilience to support you in your role as a caretaker.
Content covered:
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An understanding of secondary stress and vicarious trauma
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An overview of the nervous system and its responses
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An understanding the physical shifts that occur in our body when we move into stress responses
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An understanding the behavioral shifts that occur when we are in stress responses
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A reframing of what resilience is and what it looks like in practice
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An exploration of the challenges that can arise when navigating secondary stress and trauma in our relationships
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An overview of how to support your loved one during challenging and overwhelming chapters in life
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An exploration of how to better resource yourself in the role of support person
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A guided exploration of a series of body-based practices that can immediately support your nervous system responses
Price includes 11 lessons with video recordings, written transcripts for each lesson, and additional downloadable lesson handouts that will help you take action. Registrants will have 6 months from date of registration to access the materials.
What People are Saying
Working with Jessica has been such a tremendous gift. The Personal RESET program provides an educational framework and accessible tools for working with one’s body, rather than against it. In working with Jessica I found that I continued to come home to my body.
This homecoming has allowed me to be with my experiences authentically, and be more present for others in my life. This experience has been invaluable for me personally, and incredibly supportive in my therapeutic work with clients. I highly recommend Jessica’s work to friends, colleagues and clients alike!
Amanda Zucker,
LPC, Art Therapist
After 30 years of investment in many, many different therapies for mind, body and soul, including EFT, EMDR and Somatic Experiencing, among many others, I found Jessica’s work to be the key to breaking the grip that my trauma had on my life. The tools that she taught me, and the exquisite gentle presence she held while I learned them, have changed the course of my life to a truly empowered one. Many practitioners say that they want to teach a person to fish, rather than give them a fish. But she actually pulled that off. At a profoundly bargain price in terms of money and session-time investment. I sing her praises all the time.
Amanda Coleman,
BA, LMP
Jessica's program was extremely helpful for me in re-establishing healthy sleep patterns. I suffer from a benign nervous system condition, which for many people (including me) starts after a period of stress. Though benign, it greatly impacts the ability to fall asleep. Jessica's in depth program and materials helped me work with my stress on various levels, and I have been able to reduce the dosage of my sleep medicine! I'm also getting more hours of sleep and waking up more restful. She supplies tools to use throughout the day, regardless of the situation, for you to manage stress and regulate your nervous system. I highly recommend the program! And Jessica is amazing and caring as well.
Stefanie V.
My work with Jessica was an unexpected, and very special gift in my healing journey. Living with an overactive nervous system and continuing to seek and learn what really works best for me, my system, and my heart has prompted me to try many different things I probably wouldn't have otherwise.
Jessica's kind and gentle demeanor were instantly calming and reassuring. That, along with her thorough and confident knowledge of how our nervous system works allowed me to build trust with her as I learned some solid basic tools of downregulation, and then moved on to a deeper way to discharge what at times feels so overblown in my system. I am so very grateful for this experience. It has been very helpful and totally fits with the other work I've been doing.
Awesome tools for my self-love + care toolbox.
Linda Shaddy
I had a great experience working with Jessica and her RESET program. It helped me to develop skills for managing my daily ups and downs, and recognizing those as a normal and natural part of my body. Some of he tools have helped me to manage acute anxiety, while others have led me to develop a practice to help keep my anxiety more level on a daily basis. I'd definitely suggest folks check out this program.
Angie Ebba
Most of my life, my view of the world, my perception of myself, and my experience of inhabiting a body have been colored by what I call free-floating anxiety. And after more than 40 years as a health educator, I have a pretty big toolbox of skills, tools, and practices to deal with change, lower stress and anxiety, and better achieve wellness. But it was not until my recent work with Jessica Schaffer and her Nervous System RESET program that I made a quantum leap in my own sense of well-being by increasing my ability to self-regulate my anxiety levels. Perhaps most notably, Jessica taught me practices to discharge much of my anxiety and reset my arousal level to one that is much more conducive to creativity, humor, kindness, and the enjoyment of life. I am so grateful to Jessica and her Nervous System RESET program for helping me smooth out my jagged internal landscape and make room to invite in peace. I highly recommend Jessica, her work, her expertise, her grasp of the science behind the skills she teaches, and her presence in the world, to anyone of any age wanting to experience higher level wellness and well-being.
Suze Rutherford,
Seattle, WA
Working with Jessica has been an eye-opening and transformative experience for me. Sincerely caring and extraordinarily knowledgeable, she provided me with potent insights about my long standing anxiety and shared practices to help me self-regulate and gradually dissipate accumulated stress. I am deeply grateful for having had the opportunity to work with her and wholeheartedly recommend her services to those of us who know what a burden anxiety can be.
G. A.
Through supportive, nonjudgmental, compassion and calm, Jessica helped my son process severe fears of swimming underwater from Anesthesia trauma. Using RESET Jessica slowed things down, allowed him to be accepting and honor what his body was doing by keeping him safe. Within 1 week working with Jessica, my son was able to swim, handstand, somersault and learned 4 swim strokes, today he holds his breath for up to 40 seconds underwater. He is no longer cautious to get this face and head wet…Priceless to be uninhibited with the joy of swimming. Love learning her simple but empowering methods, this is easier than taking a pill and feel like we have usable tools for life!
Joan Cass
Jessica Schaffer is one of the best teachers I’ve worked with. She brings a wide range of expertise and explains complex and challenging concepts in clear, simple language. Jessica is also deeply compassionate and supportive as you work your way over the learning curve. I’ve gained so much from working with her, and I highly recommend her.
Charlie Glickman
After 35 years of living in a fairly terrified body (& a relatively recent car accident that amplified that) I really needed to move beyond my ‘mind’ in order to find healing. I had searched a long time for something that could help me get unstuck from the effects of trauma.
When Jessica and I started working together, I really had no practical concept of what it meant to work with my body. The techniques I started practicing through the first few sessions had enough of an effect on my nervous system that I was seeing – and experiencing – what I had been missing for so long – the opportunity to feel more calm and safe, to interact with friends and family without being blocked by defensiveness or feeling in ‘fight’ mode, more energy and creativity to focus on my dreams and goals.
Whilst I still very much consider myself to be on a journey of healing, the most profound gift has been the relationship and sense of trust I’ve built with my body. This has already seen me better managing terrifying situations (an earthquake, an anaesthetic reaction) with a sense that they have less of a lasting impact on me as my body regulates itself then and there. These are lifelong skills & so different to any ‘strategy’ I’ve learned before. I wholeheartedly believe that working with our nervous systems, and engaging with our bodies are foundational for healing – and this understanding will profoundly influence my own coaching practice going forward.
Jessica is so kind and compassionate and has immense knowledge and expertise – I truly hope that people like me who feel they have tried everything to heal will find her.
Vicki Evans
I must share my profound and life changing experience of the Nervous System Reset program which so simple yet so powerful on so many levels!!!!
To name some of shifts I have seen:
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I am more in tune with my nervous system
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I am more aware of what triggers me
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I know how to practice simple tools and awareness in the moment to down regulate my nervous system
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My stress levels are staying at a healthier and more balanced state.
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My body feels like it is running more optimally
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I have more space to enjoy and appreciate all of of life
My recommendation to each and every person is schedule with Jessica for her 6- session program. It is the best gift you could give yourself or anyone you love
Laura Houston
I am so grateful for Jessica and her ability to help me to down regulate my nervous system responses. I searched out someone who could intimately understand trauma responses and help me to identify what was happening to me on a physiological level and also had a systematic method to help override my heightened panic responses. I had already done a lot of work on myself and realized so much of my panic and anxiety was tied to old conditioned responses from challenging life experiences and realized I could not figure them out on my own.
Shannon S., Canada
Since working with Jessica and the RESET program I have found a greater sense of control, where I felt completely out-of-control before in regards to my nervous system response. Previously when my anxiety would start to tick up, I felt as though I was being tumbled and overrun by the waves. Now that I have learned how to read the signs of activation I have a box full of tools that I can utilize immediately, allowing me to ride the waves of panic, rather than to be a passive bystander. This has been invaluable to me in that I now have much more self-compassion and can actively participate in my body and my life. Jessica's guidance is gentle, kind, clear, and very supportive. I highly recommend this program to anyone suffering from trauma, post-traumatic stress, anxiety, or really anyone with a nervous system.
Monika K.,
Portland, OR
When I came to Jessica, I had suffered from several years of severe low back tension with nerve involvement that only seemed to worsen with most types of therapy. The extraordinary release that I experienced was the final step to feeling 100%. My chiropractor was also astounded by the physical elongation and movement in my spine. I am more comfortable in my body than I have been in years!
Dana M.
Jessica is truly gifted in her ability to connect, and convey a sense of safety and hope in the nervous system work she shares. My understanding of my own nervous system and my ability to reset has been invaluable. I believe everyone should have sessions with Jessica- the world would be a truly amazing place to live if this were the case. I can't recommend her work highly enough!
Becky Blanko, England
Due to life long struggle with anxiety, I developed a pretty antagonistic relationship with my body and nervous system. I saw it as this thing that got out of control. Like a monster lurking in the dark corners of my mind. Through my work with Jessica I coming to see that there is no monster. That my system is doing the best it can and that it does actually do a lot of work to soothe me and calm my down as well. This is a HUGE shift for me. She has provided with invaluable tools and insight that have allowed me to be gentler with myself and to open up my perspective to see all the things my system is doing right. I highly recommend anyone who struggles with trauma and/or anxiety to work with Jessica. She's has been a tremendous help.
Jim H.
I reluctantly attended my first RESET session as part of a group and was very skeptical about what was going to happen, having spent the past 3 years running a gauntlet of therapies and medications trying to find something to relieve depression, anxiety and PTSD symptoms. I haven’t had a panic attack since the first week of using RESET techniques and am now off all medications and sleeping better. I’ve felt very supported throughout the experience and am most grateful for learning that my body was trying to heal naturally, but I wasn’t hearing it. I learned how to listen to myself which has drastically changed my quality of life for the better. I recommend RESET especially if traditional treatments haven’t clicked for you.
MLR
I came to Jessica suffering the effects of a traumatic brain injury. Before RESET, my management strategies often led me to be overworked, undernourished and exhausted from trying to outrun the anxiety and discomfort I felt. The reality was, I was achieving success externally at the high cost of my internal wellbeing. Working with Jessica, understanding my body, recognizing different states and how they affect me and finally learning to manage my experiences and responses by making peace with their reality and diffusing/disrupting the cycle I had imagined was my base state, has been life changing. The difference in knowing I can truly find peace within my body as opposed to the decades of trying to manage my ever changing environmental stressors has given me a awareness of personal confidence, resiliency and peace than I have ever known. I am happier, healthier and more in control of my internal experiences and external responses.
Kate Blazer
Since my first session, I feel calmer, sleep better, and am more able to be present in the moment. My emotional eating and background anxiety have evaporated. I wish everybody could acquire this natural technique for releasing tension!
Barbara S.
In the 23 years I have been attending trainings and in my 44 years of life, I have never met someone like Jessica. Her ability to hold space for and keep safe a diverse group of people is absolutely beautiful. Her compassionate and skillful way of communicating is awe inspiring. Her organization and time management are impeccable. The content of Jessica’s training has forever changed both my personal and professional life. Her understanding of the nervous system and the human organism is deep and vast and the ease with which she presents complex concepts is a joy. My newfound understanding of the nervous system has facilitated a whole new level of healing in my bodywork practice. My clients are amazed when they become aware of the subtleties of their nervous systems and their innate ability to come into balance. My own personal journey of healing has been profound with Jessica’s guidance. I have so much respect for Jessica and I hold her as a mentor of the highest order.
Kelly Curtis
Jessica has a wonderful ability to take complicated neurobiology and communicate it in a way that is rich, tangible, and accessible to all. Her sense of each individual's nervous system is second nature to her. Working with her I felt safe, seen, and empowered. I recommend her!
Louise Rose
I honestly cannot imagine my own healing journey or that of my clients’ without Jessica’s work. Her presence as a healer and person is its own force, but then she has brought incredible clarity, brilliance, groundedness, and hope to working with the how our lives are lived in the body, whether it’s the trauma we are carrying, the ways we limit ourselves, or access to our own healing processes.
By emphasizing safety and self-regulation, she has created a system that empowers. What I notice most as a practitioner in my clients who work with Jessica is much greater self-regulation while doing work in session, and the ability to stay regulated out of session. This means many things — not the least of which is a decreased need for me to work to regulate us both — but especially the possibility of creating more space for deep process and lasting healing. I cannot recommend her more highly, and I refer almost all of my clients to her work.
Erin Moline,
MA, LPC