Siblings Archives ⋆ Page 2 of 15 ⋆ Cathy Cress

10 Tinseled Topped Dysfunctional Family Holiday Films to Enjoy On Chrismas Day

December 7, 2018

Dysfunctional families dread rituals and Christmas or Hanakkuh is a ritual. In the dysfunctional clan, you gather, eat ritual foods and explode. That blast can be triggered by ritual infusions of alcohol, prescription drugs, long-simmering anger, and secrets.

In the film August Osage County, you get a cattle prod version of what family rituals can detonate in dysfunctional families. The ritual is a funeral and Meryl Streep plays the pill-popping mother from hell, Julia Roberts plays one of the angry family members who both hate and love this dying, drunken, 60’s, minted mother. The secret is prescription drugs.

In the film August Osage County, you get a cattle prod version of what family rituals can detonate in dysfunctional families.The ritual is a funeral and Meryl Streep plays the pill-popping mother from hell, Julia Roberts plays one of the angry family members who both hate and love this dying, drunken, 60’s, minted mother. The secret is prescription drugs.

Osage County is one of the nine picks for Best Dysfunctional Family Holiday film. I also favor Katy Holmes is Pieces of April, where she shows herself to be a highly talented actress. She plays a comic- the anguished role of a goth daughter& least favorite child trying to pull off the holiday for her suburban family and dying mother (award-winning actress Patricia Clarkson)in a drab New York walk up. This is actually a film with a surprisingly happy ending and is a cult film that will cheer up everyone nearly normal and dysfunctional families

In” A Merry Friggen Christmas, one of the final films Robin Williams did, this tells the story of Boyd Mitchler’s struggle of dealing with his eclectic family of misfits. When he realizes he left the presents at home, Boyd and his estranged dad (Williams) make the 8-hour drive together.

Here are the other 9

Have a Merry Christmas- share joy and watch movies

Should You Take a Dysfunctional Family Care Management Case Over the Holidays ?

December 5, 2018

Do You Have Clinical &GCM Business Skills to Give Hope to a Concierge Dysfunctional Family Desperately Calling Over the Holidays –

What does it Take?

Do you know the right caseload mix so you have the intense time to handle these dysfunctional very heavy care families?

Do you have 5 years of geriatric care management practice to understand and work with dysfunctional families ???

Do you have the business model to realign your caseload for both light & Heavy cases?

Can you increase your staff to do it?

Do you know aging family dynamics or do you have a staff member who does?

Do you have care managers who can work with complex aging dysfunctional families?

Do You Know How to do a two call intake and complimentary consultation?

Do You know how to make the sale to concierge clients?

Are you ready to be fired and have an account receivable problems that come with these dysfunctional family cases?

Do you know how to answer the challenge the adult children face and the client’s needs at the same time?

Do you know how to hold an impromptu family meeting with visiting hard to handle, adult children of dysfunctional families, over the hectic holiday to plan care for aging parents?

Do you understand the executive function loss that older woman experience when trying to plan a holiday ritual dinner that fails, upsetting their adult children?

Can you work with narcissistic entitled older clients who are very demanding?

Can you take the demeaning, blaming attitude of narcissistic old and new monied clients?

Do you know how to avoid the VIP Syndrome with Concierge Rich and Famous clients?

If you lack some of these skills consider my new Geriatric Care Managment On-Line Class that includes my Geriatric Care management Operations Manual to learn them and much more.

See Cut Off in The Aging Family – Katie Holmes Brilliant Holiday Film Role

November 28, 2018

Thanksgiving, now past us is the gateway to the cut-off dysfunctional families worst time of year- the coming holidays. You face family across the table you despise or just both love and hate. Or there is that empty seat- the uninvited guest- the brother-sister, aunt, son, daughter who you never invite- the cut off-family member.

But since this leaves the family with that “phantom limb”- like the demonic sensation that a cut-off limb, still attached leaving where it was pulsating in pain- families reach out for someone to fix it.

The ordinary aging processes are made far tougher when a family has a history of dysfunction. Aging professionals, like geriatric care managers, have their greatest challenges in working with these “difficult” families around this time of year.

Dysfunctional families are not able to organize themselves effectively in the face of eldercare challenges and crises. These families are under more stress as they move from long-established roles into uncharted territory.

What if they “ cut off” their Dad years ago and now he had a severe stroke-what do they do?? Someone has to take over Mom or Dad’s care and these dysfunctional midlife adult kids are heavy ambivalent or just don’t want to do it. Now that the holidays are arriving – they have the same attitude about attending the family Thanksgiving dinner.

Pieces of April is my favorite aging dysfunctional family ” cut off holiday film. Made as a comedy in 2003, it touches death and dying, sibling rivalry, mother-daughter estrangement, interracial love- and Alzheimer’s all fueled by deep family fault lines and how to cook a turkey on a broken stove. The film manages to make the old theme of fraught family Thanksgiving, crisp, funny and ultra worth watching.

Shot in 3 weeks for a measly $350 K, it received a Sundance Film award and accolades for its pedigree cast including 21 year old Katie Holmes as the grunge Goth daughter who her family has ” Cut Off”,.Patricia Clarkson as the dying Mom who distains then forgives her rebellious eldest child and Alice Drummond as the demented grandmother who comes along and plays the most rational person in the film in her obliviousness to the family holiday freak-out.

Watch this classic now to be entertained and learn more about the heartbreak of cut off and a very entertaining resolution by a brilliant 21 yr old Katie Holmes and the incredible Patricia Clarkson

6 Ways to Thank Your Employees Taking On Call While you Celebrate the Holiday

November 26, 2018

We just passed Thanksgiving, when we offer thanks with our friends, loved ones, family. But what about your employees this holiday season. How will you thank the very people that power your business and profit and may be on call for you right now?

“Truly, from bosses I liked, anything was great because I appreciated that they thought of me. From “bad” bosses, anything would annoy me. You can’t make up for being a jerk with a token of any kind once a year.”

Ideas for inexpensive but really appreciated gifts for Care Managers and staff– cards to grocery stores or department stores, a gift certificate from Amazon all given with a nice personal handwritten note.

Staff Thank You Gifts All Year.

You need to bill 85% of your client hours. When a care manager does bill’s 85% write them a handwritten thank you note being grateful for having the amount of productivity to keep the business thriving. Handwriting is not a lost art. It sends a message that you take the time personally to really care what the employee does for your business.

2. Send a handwritten thank you note to each staff member during the year to applaud something they did. Saying thanks about something specific may be the ultimate reward. If you do it selectively yet authentically, a thank you note may be pinned above your employee’s desk for years. Create a formal letter recognizing your employee ’s achievement. Sign it and use the company’s seal to give the letter something extra. If you really want to do it right, frame it.

3. Name an employee of the month in your newsletter with their picture. Give them a gift to tell them you are grateful for their hard work. Create a formal letter recognizing your employee’s achievement. Sign the letter and use the company’s seal to give the letter something extra. If you really want to do it right, frame it too.

4. Have an employee holiday party and give gifts to all employees for being such excellent care managers and for billing the 85% you need them to bill so you will all have employment.

5.Plan employee picnics, birthday parties, anniversary parties to thank them publicly throughout the year.

6. B.J Spitler , one of the first and I might say the greatest care managers, founded Age Concerns in San Diego in 1982. She gave gifts of massages to her care managers. A brilliant gift, a massage recognizes the tough emotional work that care manager’s do and their need to take care of themselves- which you as their employer are doing.

Give Thanks Throughout the year.

Take This Test -Can You Take A Dysfunctional Family Case Over the Holidays ?

November 8, 2018

Do You Have the Clinical Skills to Give Hope to The Dysfunctional Family Calling Desperately On the Holidays – What does it Take?

Do you know the right caseload mix so you have the intense time to handle these very heavy care families?
Do you have 5 years of geriatric care management practice, a master’s degree to understand and work with them???
Do you have the business model to realign your caseload for both light & Heavy cases?
Can you increase your staff to do it?
Do you know aging family dynamics or do you have a staff member who does?
Do you have care managers who can work with complex aging dysfunctional families?
Do You Know How to do a two call intake and complimentary consultation
Do You know how to make the sale to dysfunctional aging clients
Are you ready to be fired and have an account receivable problems that come with these cases?
Do you know how to answer the challenge the adult children face and the client’s needs at the same time
Do you know how to hold an impromptu family Dysfunctional meeting with adult children, over the hectic holiday to plan care for aging parents?
Do you understand the executive function loss that older woman experience when trying to plan a holiday ritual dinner that fails, upsetting their adult children?
Can you work with narcissistic entitled older clients who are very demanding
Can you take the demeaning, blaming attitude of narcissistic old and new monied clients
Do you know how to avoid the VIP Syndrome with Concierge Rich and Famous Dysfunctional Family To Learn More Clinical Skills Before the HolidaysJoin me in my new Free Webinar 5 Ways to Tame the Turbulence of Holiday Meltdown in Aging Families During the busiest season for care management referrals-
You Will Learn:
- How to give hope to frantic children who call, after seeing their aging parent struggling with the rituals
- How to sell services during intake, to desperate adult child callers
- How to use GCM tools to contain Holiday chaos
- How to use financial forecasting to prepare for growth during the holidays
- How to work with both dysfunctional and long-distance families who call during the holidays
  - Sign Up

10 Tinseled Topped Dysfunctional Family Holiday Films to Enjoy On Chrismas Day

6 Ways to Thank Your Employees Taking On Call While you Celebrate the Holiday

Contact

Connect with Cathy

Get Cathy’s “10 Critical Success Steps to a Profitable Aging Life or GCM Business”