One Woman’s Experience Through Caregiving and Healing
For Jeanette Yates caregiving wasn’t something she chose. It was something she grew into. At just eight years old, Yates began caring for her chronically ill mother, taking on adult responsibilities long before she understood them. Decades later, she’s turned that deeply personal journey into a powerful memoir and guide: From Guilt to Good Enough: A Caregiver’s Journey of Overcoming Burnout Through Healing Childhood Trauma.
In her book, Yates offers an honest and compassionate look into what it means to be a long-term caregiver, especially when that role begins in childhood. Through her story, readers are invited to explore the hidden toll caregiving can take: chronic guilt, identity loss, people-pleasing, and emotional burnout. But this is not a book about despair. It is about healing. Yates shares how she moved beyond survival mode to reclaim her own identity, well-being, and sense of purpose. Each chapter blends storytelling with practical tools for caregivers, including boundary-setting, self-awareness practices, and tips for navigating burnout with grace rather than guilt.
“I thought I had to be everything for everyone,” she writes. “But in trying to save others, I was slowly losing myself.” That realization became the catalyst for her transformation, and the heartbeat of From Guilt to Good Enough.
Today, Yates is more than a writer. She’s a caregiver advocate, speaker, and host of the From Guilt to Good podcast, where she continues the conversation around emotional fatigue and recovery. Through candid interviews and solo episodes, she offers support and guidance to women who feel overwhelmed, invisible, or emotionally exhausted in their caregiving roles.
From her home in Jacksonville, Yates continues to build a community of caregivers who are learning to put themselves on the list without shame. Her work resonates with adult daughters, medical professionals, sandwich-generation caregivers, and anyone silently carrying the emotional weight of others.
Yates’s message is clear: You don’t have to be perfect. You just have to be good enough. And sometimes, choosing yourself isn’t selfish, it’s necessary
You can learn more about Jeanette Yates, her coaching, podcast, and book at fromguilttogood.com
