Recently, I attended a webinar about self-care and how to look after yourself while you are busy looking after others.
The content was meant for people providing therapy such as psychologists, psychiatrists, or mental health counsellors but can apply to any profession that involves dealing with people.
It was interesting to listen to the speaker explaining how people providing care sometimes forget that they need to care for themselves or fail to develop healthy ways of ‘shedding off’ the trauma that one carries on from listening to other people’s problems.
It is no wonder that some health care professionals develop symptoms of psychological burnout or unhealthy coping skills such as drinking, drug addiction.
Although other factors may contribute to the above behaviour, it is worth considering unaddressed secondary trauma that arises from caring for others.
It was interesting to learn that many therapists are in denial when it comes to self-care.
A recent survey showed many participants believe self-care is not necessary or needed, that their work is more important than their self-care, that doing self-care means they have a weakness, and that the harder they work the better they are.
No wonder that another survey showed 60 per cent of the participants reported being seriously depressed, feeling emotionally distant from their loved ones, and losing trust.
Such negative feelings were linked to an increase in work absences and early retirement.
I remember a colleague telling me that he often felt physically tired after seeing many patients in his afternoon clinic and it took him longer to fall asleep, after reducing the number of his patients his symptoms disappeared.
The speaker concluded his talk by sharing a few simple and easy-to-follow tips like having a shower once back from work and changing into new clothes, stretching exercises between sessions, and observing caffeine intake.
I can specifically relate to the last one since I love coffee and I may take one or more cups during my afternoon private clinic to stay awake, especially after a long busy day at the university.
Other tips included taking regular holidays even if you are unable to travel abroad.
A day trip to the beach or a walk-in nature is enough to restore your energy. The speaker also highlighted the importance of peer supervision where therapists meet in a group or one-on-one to discuss their encounters with clients and focus on emotions triggered by some clients and work together to address them.
I quite enjoyed the webinar, and I surely learned a few tips to share with colleagues.
In my opinion, other professionals such as teachers, police officers and people working in the court need to learn about self-care since they tend to interact with people from different backgrounds, listen to their suffering and naturally feel empathy and compassion towards them.
Some of the experiences they come across may be hard to handle and eventually affect them psychologically if not addressed well.
People need to be reminded that it is better to care for yourself and it is not considered selfish.
Learning to relax after work is essential so you can charge your batteries and return with more focus and enthusiasm.
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
