No more self-less self-care.

On 18 November 2022, 3:00-4:30 pm (Arizona Time), I’ll lead a session of one of our most popular online workshops: Self-care for Caring Professionals. As always, we’ll explore self-care strategies through the Eight Dimensions of Wellness. However, what’s new in this workshop is how we’ll confront what I’m calling “Self-less self-care.”

Protect your regulated space.

Helping children and youth regulate emotions begins with establishing, protecting, and expanding our own regulated space. This kind of self-care is more than just treating ourselves to something or eating more vegetables. Rather, it’s about being intentional about our own health and wellness so that we can be available to serve others at our best.

Why telling people to care for themselves doesn’t work, and what leaders can do instead.

This article is for leaders of caring organizations who work hard to take care of their people. The words and action steps below reflect perspectives and experiences of caring professionals who have generously and kindly shared with me what they have learned about self-care.

Take care.

Every client I work with is a caring professional, or leads an organization of caring professionals. For most of us, serving others and working for social justice gives us purpose and meaning. However, many of us struggle to care for ourselves, often because we either view self-care as selfish, or as a luxury to indulge when the work gets done. I’d like to invite you to consider what might happen if instead we viewed self-care as a professional responsibility.