emotional work?

The therapist Harriet Fraad likes to talk about "emotional work".  Mothers, or women traditionally have helped people in the family to satisfy their emotional needs....I believe that much of what I've done in the past three years for my elderly parents is very much along those lines...

However, I am uncomfortable with the phrase because most of what is conventionally called
 "work" is not actually productive or positive---does not contribute to improving lives  (E.g.
advertising, crappy hollywood movies, killing people in the military...)