Positively Chronic
A 6-week mental and emotional fitness program for people managing long-term illness
Next Group Coaching Program: TBD
Solo Coaching Program: Start any time!
Living with a chronic condition can feel like
an uphill climb that never ends
with a heavy pack you can never set down.
At least, that’s how it feels for me. For 40 years, I’ve been living with Type 1 diabetes. (You can read more about that over here.)
It’s true that those of us with chronic illness can’t set down our packs, but we can lighten the load of managing a long-term condition by strengthening our mental and emotional fitness so we can build resilience and feel optimistic, even when things are tough.
It took me nearly 35 years to figure out how, and now I want to help you. Because I’m living proof that life with a chronic illness can be fulfilling, and it can be easier. It’s my mission to bring you hope and help you turn it into your reality. I’m here to tell you that you get to choose your path and decide how heavy your pack is, not your illness.
Looking for the companion materials?
How many of these statements have you heard yourself say or think?
I am tired of doing all the things that are necessary to manage my illness.
I'm always judging and berating myself for how I manage my illness, or the impact the illness has on my life.
I'm always worried about my illness and how I'm managing it; it's always on my mind.
I'm fearful of how my independence, quality of life, or lifespan may be impacted negatively due to my illness.
I am often angry and frustrated that I have to deal with this illness, and at how it impacts my life choices.
I feel alone, isolated and misunderstood in my experience of managing a long-term illness.
Even when things go well, I am waiting for the next "bad" thing to happen in my illness management.
Sometimes I ignore my condition because I just don't want to deal with it.
I often feel like I am a victim of my long-term illness, and wonder "Why me?"
I don’t want to be a burden to those around me or draw attention to my condition.
In my case, I used to be ruled by these thoughts. They’d spin me into despair and hopelessness…sometimes for a day, or for weeks. It sucked. But I eventually learned to see my illness not as a limiting factor in my life, but as an enabler. I stopped being defined by it and started living my life for me, not my disease.
I saw it through new eyes, and shifted my thinking so I was in control of my life and disease, not the other way around.
And the impact of shifting my mindset has been transformative. I still get stuck in negative thinking some days (I’m human too!), but my recovery time is quicker and I’m way more forgiving of myself — and my condition — now than I was even five years ago. My life has become so much more enjoyable, despite carrying this chronic backpack.
If you’re sick and tired of being mentally and emotionally burdened by managing your long-term illness, then join me to learn how to:
Build mental and emotional stamina and endurance to handle the challenges of managing a long-term illness for the long-haul
Bounce back from setbacks more quickly
Quickly dial down the worry and anxiety that accompany a long-term illness
Recognize when fear is no longer helpful and move through it more easily
Appreciate progress over perfection in how you manage your condition
Notice when you are avoiding and denying your condition due to mental or emotional distress
Use strategies to shift from negative to positive thinking during even the toughest moments
See and appreciate the gifts your condition brings to you life (it might seem unfathomable, but it’s possible — really!)
Be motivated to take inspired action in the management of your mental fitness and your long-term condition
Connect with and learn from others who are experiencing the same challenges
This program is now available in several formats to best meet your learning and timing needs and preferences:
Details - Group Coaching Program
Dates: TBD
Time: TBD, over Zoom
Group Program includes:
6 x 1.25-hour weekly group calls, with discussion, tools and practices to improve your mental fitness
1 x 45-minute private coaching session with Jilly (valued at $250) between weeks 4 and 6
Weekly handouts and resources
Weekly fieldwork to deepen your discovery, learning and integration
A welcoming and confidential small community of other participants who get what it’s like to live with chronic or life-altering illness
A copy of the Positively Chronic card deck or book and the Positively Chronic Journal
For ICF-credentialed coaches: you will receive 8.25 Resource Development CCE units
Investment: $999 CAD, or three monthly payments of $333 CAD (+ GST/HST where applicable)
Solo Coaching Program
Rather participate on your own with individualized support? No problem!
The Solo Coaching Program offers 7 x 50-minute sessions so you can focus on your unique experience with personalized support from Jilly. We’ll work through the program curriculum, and you’ll receive all the tools, resources and content from the group program, with flexibility to adapt it specifically to you.
Begin any time and move at a pace that suits you (within 3 months from start date).
Investment: $1500 CAD, or three monthly payments of $500 CAD (+ GST/HST where applicable)
Self-directed Program
Rather go it alone? I got you!
The Self-directed Program lets you go at your own pace, and is delivered virtually, on-demand, with short videos, a workbook and all other program resources.
Begin any time (coming soon) and move at a pace that suits you — as fast or as slow as you like!
Investment: $350 CAD (+ GST/HST where applicable)
Program Overview
Week 4: Dealing with Other People’s Sh*t: Advice, Miracle Cures and Other Unhelpful Comments
Learning to let unsolicited advice slide with grace and ease, managing our relational energy, and advocating for ourselves
Week 5: Pressing Questions: Free-for-All Week
A week for you to bring what’s emergent, urgent or needs more exploration, plus some bonus exercises
Week 6: Celebration and Sustaining Ourselves
Creating plans for sustainable progress, and celebrating our learning and growth
Week 1: This Sucks: Acknowledging What Is
Naming and claiming our conditions by sharing what we’re carrying in our backpacks
Week 2: Stopping the Swirl: Understanding Emotions and Thoughts
Noticing our unpleasant emotions and thoughts, and learning how to pause, reset and redirect our responses to the hard stuff
Week 3: Mindset Reset: Powerful Perspectives and Shifts
Shifting from victim to empowered, and choosing how to hold our conditions
I want this program to help people — like me — who are managing a long-term condition on top of everything else life throws at us, especially those whose illnesses are invisible to the untrained eye.
Often others don’t see or understand the burden we carry as we go about our work, our families, and all the other responsibilities we hold with the added backpack full of information, considerations, financial expenses, decisions, preparations, etc. that long-term illnesses bring to our lives. They don’t understand decision fatigue. They don’t get how we can look “fine” but feel awful. Even those closest to us struggle to understand the true weight of our packs.
But there is hope, and there are accessible, practical tools to lighten the load and make it easier to keep going.
How many of us have been told by our health care team to manage our stress or to get enough sleep, that those “simple” things will help manage our illness?
How many of us have figured out how to recover gracefully (i.e., without anyone noticing) when a symptom or side effect flares up?
How many of us know what to do to integrate difficult information, like when we get news of a relapse or unfavourable test results?
These are the things we aren’t taught when we get handed diagnosis. And this is where improving our mental fitness can help.
And the best thing? Improving your mental fitness in one area of your life positively impacts it in all areas of your life. How we do one thing is how we do all things. So, if you’re also struggling with a relationship, or a work situation, or anything else that’s impacting your quality of life, you’ll be able to apply the learning (and rewired neural pathways) to all aspects of your life.
Need more information or want to be sure this is the right fit for you?