Healing the Healers: Self-Care Tips for Mental Health Clinicians
May is Mental Health Awareness Month (yay!), and as a licensed therapist, I felt compelled to share tips with colleagues about how to practice self-care in real life, not just the glamorous mani/pedi type of self-care.
Something else that also motivated me to share these tips was my own health scare during the month of March, hence the short blog hiatus, but that’s for another blog article coming soon.
In a world where the concept of self-care is becoming trendy and surface level, below are some “unconventional” tips for mental health professionals, but honestly all adults can benefit from these tips as well:
Take intentional breaks AWAY from your desk. If you work from home, walk away from your screen, even if it’s to the mailbox or the kitchen. If you work in the office, stop eating lunch at your desk. Go outside if you can, or even to your car if the weather permits.
Limit exposure to media- especially amid traumatic current events. Your clients already come to you with trauma, and often that trauma is directly linked to the current events that are happening locally and/or globally. Guard your heart and your mind and intentionally disconnect for the preservation of your mental health.
Give yourself permission to do nothing- and don’t feel guilty about it. That means binge-watch your Netflix shows without forcing yourself to fold laundry or play outside without tracking your steps on your Apple Watch. Rest is just as productive as work, and we all need a healthy balance of both.
Set boundaries with families and friends about whatever you need. Sometimes clinicians are “talked out” at the end of the day after pouring onto their clients. Some loved ones have expectations that we’re always “on” and ready to therapize (another blog for another day 😮💨), and hard boundaries may need to be set to squash that expectation.
If the thought of doing these things is too overwhelming or brings other questions about incorporating self-care more frequently, contact me here.
What other self-care tips would you add to this list? Feel free to continue the conversation below!