This article is from the series on self-care: Emotions and self-care; Never underestimate the power of self-care.
Let’s approach this article from the physical aspects of self-care. Self-care is a way of life that must ideally happen in every practising counsellor’s life. Physical self-care adds a lot of value to the overall well-being of the therapist.
Lizel has been finding her schedule increase with the number of hours she is putting into the cases. She gets up tired in the morning and all through the day she feels tired and physically drained out. Her weekends are filled with other activities that is adding to the drain that she is experiencing on Monday morning. She has no drive and she certainly doesn’t look forward to the day.
There are mainly three areas to consider:
Sleep
Exercise
Diet and healthy eating habits
Let’s consider the first point.
Sleep is crucial to a therapist’s well-being. Long hours, heavy workload along with paperwork can take a toll on the body. If not given care, the body can get exhausted and tired over time. This has its own bearing when in a session, where being present for your client is a crucial quality of a therapist.
Each person’s body is different and therefore the number of hours of sleep where one feels refreshed will differ from person to person. However, the need for good quality sleep cannot be undermined. When time is given for that kind of rest, the body will rejuvenate. This can give rise to new ideas and better ways of functioning in the counselling room. This can also improve concentration tremendously.
Tip: Have a set timing for bed time. Keep 6 – 8 hours of rest time for self so that the mornings are fresh and rejuvenated.
An equal participant in the physical self-care is the requirement of exercise. Being involved with an exercise regime helps to release pent up emotions that have accumulated over the years with lack of self-care. This regime will help to regularly release these emotions. Having a routine exercise regime will also help in getting organized.
It also will help in getting sugar levels regulated and over time body functions return to normal levels. Therefore, adding this to one’s schedule will help in the physical self-care of a therapist.
Tip: Catch the early mornings for exercise, this could make you feel energetic the whole day.
Eating healthy is also an important feature for the normal functioning of an individual. Eating good and beneficial food gives the energy and the drive for the individual to go through the day. It is good for the individual to look at their eating habits and see if an unhealthy habit is noticed, then necessary changes need to be made. Eating at regular intervals will also help.
Tip: Having a food diary may help keep track of the food that is ingested in a day. This will help streamline eating habits.
Sleep, exercise and eating healthy are all important aspect to have a healthy physical self-care routine however, doing all three may not be realistic. Focus on getting one done will be a good goal to have. Slow increments will help greatly to build stamina and go from one goal to the next.
To get more information on this topic, click on Emotions and Self-Care, Never Underestimate the Power of Self-Care
コメント