Caregiving doesn’t just exhaust your heart —
it leaves a mark on your body.

In this deeply honest episode, Thérèse speaks to the physical aftermath so many caregivers carry in silence: the pain, the weight changes, the exhaustion, and the shame that often shows up after caregiving ends.

Drawing from her own experience as a long-term caregiver — including years of chronic back pain, significant weight gain, and turning to food for comfort under relentless stress — Thérèse explores what actually happens to the body when it lives in survival mode for too long.

You’ll hear about:

Why caregivers often feel physically worse after caregiving ends

How chronic stress reshapes the nervous system and metabolism

Why food becomes comfort — and why that makes sense

How shame convinces us our bodies failed, instead of recognizing endurance

What a gentle re-entry into your body really looks like in The After

This episode is about understanding your body — and beginning again with compassion instead of shame and punishment.

If you’ve ever looked in the mirror after caregiving and wondered, ‘What happened to me?’ - this episode is for you.

👉 Join the NYGA community at NewYorkGirlAgain.com
👉 Follow New York Girl Again on social media for daily support in The After

After caregiving ends, many caregivers are left with an unexpected question:

If I’m no longer in survival mode…why do I feel so unsteady?

In this episode of New York Girl Again – The After, Thérèse explores a skill no caregiver was ever taught — how to hold yourself once there’s no one else left to hold.

Drawing from her own 25-year caregiving journey, Thérèse explains why emotions feel overwhelming after caregiving ends, how the nervous system releases years of containment, and why many caregivers instinctively distract, overwork, or stay busy instead of staying present.

This episode is about:

why caregivers feel exposed after survival mode shuts down

what “holding yourself” actually means in real life

how internal safety is rebuilt after years of vigilance

and why learning to stay with yourself is the foundation for everything that comes next.

This is episode is about learning how to stay —
with your emotions, your body, and your life —
without bracing or abandoning yourself again.

👉 Join the New York Girl Again community at NewYorkGirlAgain.com for support and resources.

Follow us on social media at New York Girl Again, and share this episode with caregivers navigating their own After.

There comes a moment in The After when the immense strength that carried you through caregiving simply… runs dry.

And when that happens, many caregivers ask themselves:

How did I survive all of that — for so long — and feel like THIS now?

In this deeply personal episode, Thérèse explores what happens after survival strength is no longer needed — and why that does not mean something is wrong with you.

Drawing from her own 25-year caregiving journey and the years in the ‘After’, she shares:

• why caregivers often feel weakest after caregiving ends
• the difference between survival strength and sustainable strength
• what strength looks like now, in The After

This episode isn’t about pushing harder or proving anything to anyone.

It’s about understanding that the strength you used to survive was never meant to last forever — and that a new kind of strength is quietly waiting to emerge.

👉 Join the New York Girl Again community at NewYorkGirlAgain.com for support and resources.
Follow us on social media at New York Girl Again and share this episode with caregivers navigating their own After.