Therapist Self-Care...and Morning Earth

Posted Tue Feb 1st 2011 by Dan Rebek

We psychotherapists work hard don’t we? I certainly hear that from behavior health professionals these days. Many say that today’s working environment is as challenging as ever (and exciting as well).

Clients who bring more complicated, difficult situations. The stressful demands of insurance and financial factors. Increasing accountability requirements. I’ll stop there because you’re well aware of the challenges.

We psychotherapists know that, in a challenging field like ours, taking care of ourselves is pretty important. Our “selves” are the single best instruments we have for helping others. Despite all this wisdom a part of our minds often says, “Yea, yea, I agree, but… I don’t have the time to be good to myself”.

There is no magic bullet for therapist self-care. On the other hand, I’m quite convinced that each of us can find a package of things that makes a difference for us. Below I’ve shared one resource that takes very little of our precious time.

One Brief, Simple Self–Care Resource

John Caddy lives in Forest Lake, MN, and nearly every day he carries his camera and notebook outdoors and creates a Morning Earth entry. Each simply consists of a photograph and a few lines of writing/poetry. I receive a free Morning Earth entry each day, open it, and enjoy the surprise. I usually don’t have to work at it. The photograph and poem take care of me.

Rather than me going on and on about Morning Earth, click the logo just above for a preview of what a Morning Earth email is like. But just subscribing yourself is the best way to experience it. John has made it simple to receive Morning Earth. You can subscribe here.

What are your thoughts? Do you have any self-care suggestions you’d like to share?