New book from an Aidants Proches Bruxelles member: “When Loving Becomes Caring”

Laura Danloy, psychologist and coordinator at ASBL Aidants Proches Bruxelles, has co-written a new French-language book exploring what it really means to become an informal carer for a family member or friend.

Written with a fellow French psychologist, Marie-Elisabeth Piussan, the book draws on years of clinical work supporting informal carers and blends personal testimonies with psychological insight. It opens with a short self-assessment tool, originally developed by the psychology unit of the Centre Hospitalier Régional Sambre et Meuse, to help readers recognise whether they have taken on a caring role, something many people do without ever using that word for themselves.

Across eleven chapters, the authors trace the full arc of the caring experience: the everyday realities and challenges of the role, how to protect personal boundaries and communicate under pressure, how caring intersects with work, study, retirement or job-seeking, and how to talk about it with family and friends. A closing chapter addresses “post-caring,” the transition that follows when a caring role ends, whether through bereavement, a loved one’s recovery, a move into residential care or an ageing parent needing to plan for a time when they can no longer provide support themselves.

The authors are explicit that the book is not meant to diagnose or label, but to help readers recognise their own experience and find practical ways to keep their own wellbeing in view while caring for someone else. It is written for informal carers at every stage and in every situation, whether still awaiting a diagnosis, deep in the daily routine of caring or looking back on a role that has come to an end.

A timely and thoughtful read for anyone in our network, and a reminder of the vital work our member organisations do every day for informal carers across Europe.

More info: https://www.racine.be/fr/quand-aimer-devient-aider