Barry Jacobs

Contributed by Barry Jacobs

13 Results

Dementa Caregiving-Pavel Danilyuk/Pexels

Online Story

October 26, 2022

A Script for Male Dementia Caregivers

Helping a Husband Be More Than a 'Pillar of Strength'

Many spousal dementia caregivers struggle emotionally watching their life partners slowly decline. But I also knew that male caregivers, especially spouses, tend to be stoical, avoiding expressions of negative feelings, and often declining other’s help. Read More

Online Story

November 16, 2018

What Basketball Taught Me About Therapy

Learning to Stay in the Game with Challenging Clients

Barry Jacobs

Basketball has taught me many lessons. I learned about trust, relationships, and teamwork. I learned the power to regulate feelings. It would shape my clinician's game too. I developed a knack for handling male aggression, as well as physical decline and loss. Read More

An illustration of a hand outstretched towards a woman walking away

Magazine Article - Family Matters

September 7, 2017

A Squeeze of the Hand

What Does a Son Owe His Mother?

Barry Jacobs

After a lifetime of conflict, a son faces the question of what he owes his mother. Read More

An illustration of an older man holding someone's hand

Magazine Article - Family Matters

November 3, 2016

Intimate Enemies

A Stepson Reconsiders a Long-Held Resentment

Barry Jacobs

A stepson reconsiders a long-held resentment. Read More

Magazine Article - In Consultation

May 9, 2016

The Rewards of Caregiving

Escaping Negative Cycles

Barry Jacobs

How to help beleaguered caretakers of elderly parents find meaning and purpose in a challenging task. Read More

Online Story

November 17, 2015

Helping Therapy Clients Cope with the Reality of Death

Clinical Wisdom to Combat Fear, Anxiety, and Grief at the End of Life

Barry Jacobs

For 17 years, managing responses to death has become part of my work, whether originally my intention or not. I’ve aspired to helping families hang tough through medical crisis, but now spend some of my time hanging crepe. I’ve now accepted the variety of ways people react to their dying. All of these ways of facing death are utterly ordinary and human. Throughout it all, I've learned that as difficult and awkward as confronting death can be, this work also gives me a richer sense of my client, the cast of characters in their world, and the drama of their life. Read More

Magazine Article - In Consultation

September 1, 2010

Doing What's Best for Mom and Dad

Helping Contentious Siblings Find Common Cause

Barry Jacobs

A parent's failing health can stir up a hornet's nest of trouble among adult siblings. Read More

Magazine Article

June 30, 2010

Honoring the Mission

Don’t Be too Quick to Ease the Caregiver’s Burden

Barry Jacobs

Q: My clients who take care of aging parents complain about being exhausted, depressed, and resentful, but resist my suggestions for making their lives easier... Read More

Magazine Article

May 1, 2010

Game On!

Bringing the locker room into the consulting room

Barry Jacobs

Although therapy is often considered a profession dominated by the female sensibility, a lifelong gym rat, much practiced in the arts of masculine aggression, applies the lessons of the basketball court in the consulting room. Read More

Magazine Article - In Consultation

October 18, 2008

Receiving with Grace

Teaching reluctant seniors to accept help

Barry Jacobs

Q: Many of my older clients and their family caregivers resist accepting help from others. How can I get them to receive the care they... Read More

Barry J. Jacobs, Psy.D. is a Philly area-based clinical psychologist, healthcare consultant, and coauthor (with his wife, Julia L. Mayer, Psy.D.) of AARP Meditations for Caregivers (Da Capo, 2016) and AARP Love and Meaning After 50 (Hachette, 2020). He writes a monthly self-help column for family caregivers on AARP.org.