Your Family Tree

You may find that looking after someone can put a strain on your relationships with people who are important to you, whether that's a partner, family, friends or somebody else.

It can be really hard to recognise how caring is causing problems with your relationships as you may feel that you are betraying the person you care for if you say anything. This might be particularly hard if you are caring for your partner.

NEW - Caring for a child

Becoming a parent carer has a huge impact on your life. You may have chosen to start a family, but it’s unlikely you chose to have a child with a disability. Your career ambitions and personal aspirations can disappear off the radar as you face the possibility of losing your income and lifestyle. It’s easy to become isolated and overwhelmed. These changes can have an enormous impact on your relationships, but there are things that can help.

• coping with a diagnosis,
• maintaining a good relationship with your child,
• looking after your relationship with your partner,
• your relationships with your other children,
• your relationships with friends and family, and
• finding local support.

This new page was written with support from Jo Bebbington and Sue Titterington at Lancashire Parent Carer Forum.

What's in the online relationship guide?

The guide includes support for all carers, and can help you look after your relationship with your partner, or your wider relationships with family and friends. It includes top tips to help you put ideas into practice.

If you are looking after your partner you can face unique pressures. The guide includes support about:

If you care for a family member, friend or neighbour you are likely face a different set of challenges. The guide includes support about:

Who are OnePlusOne?

Poor quality relationships damage the mental and physical health of adults and especially children, while good quality relationships increase wellbeing. Society as a whole benefits from relationships that work well and bears the cost when they fail.

Their unique approach is early intervention – they reach couples and families through the professionals, volunteers and networks they turn to for help about other issues in their lives such as parenting or health.

They promote early action in relationship support and seek to shift relationship support from crisis intervention to prevention. Carers Trust have worked with them to ensure that carers can easily find relationship support.