Find Your Caregiving Stage | The Caregiving Years Training Academy
The Caregiving Years Training Academy

Find Your CaregivingStage

When you worry about, support, help or care for a family member or friend, you have your own experience. Your experience also moves through six stages. This tool helps you identify where you are, understand what's ahead, and find the coping strategies that fit the moment.

Find my stage → Takes about 2 minutes
Stage 1
The Expectant Caregiver™
Stage 2
The Freshman Caregiver™
Stage 3
The Entrenched Caregiver™
Stage 4
The Pragmatic Caregiver™
Stage 5
The Transitioning Caregiver™
Stage 6
The Godspeed Caregiver™
About the framework

A map for a journey no one prepares you for

When you expect a child, the community rallies around you — with gifts, well-wishes, and encouragement. But when you become a family caregiver, you may find yourself feeling isolated, uncertain, and alone.

The Six Caregiving Stages™ was created by Denise M. Brown to give family caregivers the same gift expecting parents receive: a map. A way to understand where you are, what's coming, and how to steady yourself when things get hard.

Each stage has a keyword — a coping strategy that belongs to that moment in your journey.
Keywords accumulate — as you move through stages, you build a toolkit of go-to strategies.
The stages aren't linear — life changes can move you forward or back. The map is always with you.
A caregiving stage isn't location-based — it's not about where you live or where your caree lives. It's about how the impact of your caregiving responsibilities feels. It's an emotional experience.
"Without support, you might find yourself fighting self-doubts. That's why I've developed the Six Caregiving Stages — to provide a map for your journey, just like books for expecting parents. Because no journey is completed without wrong turns, unexpected delays, and unplanned crises, we include steadies for your stumbles."
— Denise M. Brown, Founder, The Caregiving Years Training Academy
Find your stage  ·  Interactive tool

Where are you in your caregiving journey?

Answer four reflective questions to identify your stage — then explore all six.

Question 1 of 4
Where are you right now in your caregiving?
Question 2 of 4
Which best describes what you're carrying emotionally right now?
Question 3 of 4
What do you most need support with right now?
Question 4 of 4
When you think about the future of your caregiving, which feels most true?
Stage 1
Your keyword
What it means for you
Watch: Your Stage Explained
What's typical right now
What helps
Free Tool
Now that you know your stage, see what your work is worth.
Family caregivers using our calculator report an average of $163,000 a year in non-reimbursed value. Your number takes about 5 minutes to find.
Explore all six stages:
From Denise M. Brown

The Caregiving Guide

The companion to your caregiving journey. The Caregiving Guide walks alongside you through every stage — with comfort, practical tools, and the reassurance that what you're experiencing is real, valid, and shared by caregivers everywhere.

Get the book →

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