About Love, Limits and Aging Parents

Most caregiving advice assumes you’re caring for someone who loves you back. Many caregivers aren’t.

Love, Limits and Aging Parents was created for family caregivers who are caring for an abusive, controlling, or toxic aging parent. Our goal is simple: to give you honest information, practical tools, and the reassurance that you are allowed to have limits.

We bring together two perspectives: one from a retired occupational therapist with years of experience in aging and caregiving, and one from a licensed counselor who understands the emotional impact of difficult family relationships. We’re glad you’re here.

Esther C. Kane, CAPS, C.D.S.

Esther C. Kane is a retired occupational therapist with more than 12 years of clinical experience working with older adults and their families. She is a Certified Aging in Place Specialist (CAPS) and a Certified Dementia Specialist (C.D.S.).

Esther is also an author, content creator, and the founder of several websites and resources devoted to aging in place and family caregiving, including SeniorSafetyAdvice.com, AgingInPlaceDirectory.com, and TheStoicCaregiver.com. Her work is built on a belief that caregivers deserve clear, practical information they can actually use.

She started Love, Limits and Aging Parents because the caregiving world rarely talks about what to do when the parent who needs you is also the parent who hurt you.

Laurie Newcomb, LPC, NCC, CCTP

Laurie Newcomb is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), a National Certified Counselor (NCC), and a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP). Her training in trauma gives her a deep understanding of how painful family histories shape the way adult children respond to a parent’s care needs.

Laurie brings the counseling perspective to this project. She helps listeners and readers make sense of the guilt, anger, grief, and mixed feelings that come with caring for a difficult parent, and she shares tools for coping, communicating, and protecting their own well-being.

[Add: Laurie’s practice name or location, years in practice, areas of focus, and a link to her practice website if she’d like one. Also add a sentence about what drew her to this work.]

Why we work together

Caring for a difficult parent takes more than a care plan, and it takes more than good intentions. Esther understands the practical side of aging and caregiving. Laurie understands the emotional side of family pain. Together, we aim to cover both.

We talk about what the other guides leave out: the resentment, the guilt, the old wounds, and the very real question of how much you can give without losing yourself.

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Important note: Love, Limits and Aging Parents offers general information and shared perspective for family caregivers. It is not therapy, counseling, or medical, legal, or financial advice, and listening to or reading our content does not create a counselor-client relationship. If you are in crisis, call or text 988 (the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) or call 911 in an emergency.