Anthony Johnson Counselling Services is running a series of self-care and stress-management workshops for counsellors, therapists and other health care professionals. Details of the workshop are found at the end of this article. What follows are some thoughts about the importance of self-care and what the term and practice mean.
As healthcare professionals we are constantly reminded that we should take care of ourselves ‘do Self-Care’ so what does self-care mean to you?
The term self-care describes the actions that an individual might take in order to reach optimal physical and mental health. Mental health professionals often use the term self-care to refer to one’s ability to take care of the activities of daily living, or ADLs, such as feeding oneself, showering, brushing one’s teeth, wearing clean clothes, and attending to medical concerns. Physical self-care, such as sleep and exercise, and activities that an individual engages in to relax and attain emotional well-being, such as meditation or writing a journal can also become ADLs.
An extended failure to care for one’s self can result in illness, reduced capacity to cope, or hospitalisation,
- Understanding Self-Care
- Why Self-Care Is Important
- Self-Care Workshop
Understanding Self-Care
Self-care can include activities such as getting a haircut or massage, taking a trip, or eating at one’s favourite restaurant, as well as attending to one’s basic daily needs. We may experience difficulty with self-care for several reasons including depression, overwork, stress, and bereavement.
We all have different requirements for self-care, but in general, the goals of self-care are to find a state of good mental and physical health, reduce
stress meet emotional needs, maintain one’s relationships, both romantic and platonic, and find a balance between one’s personal and professional life.
Self-care is not a selfish act. As health care professionals if we do not take care of our own emotional and physical needs then when attempting to resolve those of others we may begin to experience a decline in our own emotional or physical state.
Caring for others either professionally or personally you may find yourself especially drained if you cannot devote enough time to your own self-care. Once you have met your own needs, you may often find you are better able to assist others in meeting theirs.
Why Self-Care Is Important
Sometimes we attempt to meet the needs of family members, employers, children, friends, or society in general before meeting our own needs, and working to please and care for others often interferes with our self-care routine and can take a toll on our well-being.
Self-care can help mental health professionals and other health care providers avoid compassion-fatigue, which can often result from work in a high-stress or traumatic environment and may lead to self-doubt, self-blame, and ethical or even legal complications.
Meeting one’s own needs tends to make a person better able to help and support others and, to obtain more happiness and fulfilment from life. In order to facilitate your own healthy routine to make sure your needs are met, it can be helpful to develop a self-care plan centred on Physical, Mental, and Spiritual self-care.
Self-Care Workshop
Anthony’s next self – care workshop will be held in February 2018 at the Jurys Inn Croydon south London, located 5mins from East Croydon station.
Attending this one-day event will help you focus on the triggers for your own stress patterns and explore the practicalities of self-care,, additionally looking at psychological, emotional, relationship and professional self-care. Throughout the day we will look in detail at how you can construct a personal self-care plan.
There will be a mixture of individual, small and large group activities.
We will start the day with an individual self-care assessment, and look at stress and time management, relaxation techniques, exploring different self-care activities. You will be leaving the day with your own self-care plan.
If you would like more information or would like to book a place
please contact using the details below.
See what previous attendees have said about the day:
Rajinder: Anthony’s workshop gave me powerful tools to use that have helped me improve and grow as a therapist
Debbie: It gave me time to really think about myself and my own self-care
Chris: The day emphasised the importance of looking after yourself and this not just being an optional extra
Theresa: I found the day really helpful. It gave me plenty of things to think about, and making time for myself will help me in all sorts of ways
Karen: Anthony covered a wide scope of subjects that I would not have thought about before.
Clare: A real eye opener in terms of self-assessment and the importance of addressing individual self-care needs to obtain a better work-life balance
References:
- Introduction to Self-Care. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://socialwork.buffalo.edu/resources/self-care-starter-kit/introduction-to-self-care.html.
- So What Is “Self Care”? (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.uky.edu/StudentAffairs/VIPCenter/downloads/self care defined.pdf.
- http://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/issues/self-care#Understanding Self-Care
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