Balancing Care Across Generations: You’ve been showing up for everyone — your parents, your kids, your work — constantly juggling needs that never seem to end. You’re dependable, strong, the one who keeps it all moving. But lately, that strength feels like strain. You’re running on empty, wondering when it’s your turn to rest.

You’ve been the glue that keeps everyone else steady — but who holds space for you?

Who is The sandwich generation?:

The "sandwich generation" refers to a group of adults—typically in their 30s to 50s—who are simultaneously caring for their aging parents while supporting their own children.

You may be "sandwiched" between two generations that depend on you for caregiving tasks such as helping parents with medical issues, housing, or daily tasks while also raising young children or or supporting adult children with school or living expenses. The emotional, financial, and time demands can quickly accumulate, often leading to burnout, anxiety, and little time for yourself or your career. ​

The emotional landscape

Caring for aging parents can be especially complex when the relationship has been strained or painful. You may find yourself caring for someone who once hurt, neglected, or disappointed you, while still carrying unresolved emotions.

This can create an internal tension—balancing compassion, duty, resentment, guilt, boundaries, and grief all at once. While deeply challenging, with support this process can also create space for healing and growth.

You don’t have to keep holding it all together on your own; it’s possible to care for the people you love while also making space to care for yourself.

What We Work On in Therapy:

Together, we will process the complex emotions that come with caring for everyone else, and to learn how to care for yourself, too.

• Caregiver burnout and compassion fatigue

• Guilt and perfectionism

• Grief and role transitions

• Stress, anxiety, and emotional regulation

• Communication and boundaries

• Identity and self-care

Therapy talk: evidence-based modalities

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT helps identify and challenge guilt-driven or self-critical thoughts common in caregiving, such as “I should be doing more” or “I can’t take a break.” It provides tools to reduce anxiety, set boundaries, and balance caring for others with caring for yourself.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
ACT helps you acknowledge the full emotional experience of caregiving—love, exhaustion, frustration, and grief—without judgment. By reconnecting with your values and practicing mindfulness, you can respond with intention rather than pressure.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
EMDR addresses deeper emotional experiences that caregiving may bring up, such as past loss, responsibility, or unresolved family pain. Processing these memories can reduce beliefs like “It’s all on me” and help you approach caregiving with greater resilience and self-compassion.

Get mental health support in the San Francisco Bay Area

Caterina Sanfilippo Lee, LCSW is a psychotherapist and EMDR therapist in the San Francisco Bay Area. She also provides online therapy across California and New York.