Let us understand self-care by looking closely into a therapist’s life and work:
Lizel has been working as a therapist in a counselling centre. Recently she has been having some personal issues pertaining to her husband and child. She has been having trouble sleeping in the night. She has been feeling tired and worn out. With all of this going on in the house, she also has all these cases that are coming to her because of the pandemic. She finds herself thinking about her husband and son during sessions and also finds herself feeling stuck since she hasn’t been listening well in the session. To top this, she finds her thinking about cases at home and worrying about a case that seemed similar to what she was going through. How could self-care help Lizel?
Self-care is the care given to self on a regular basis. This care can include taking time to journal, being involved with a social group, or practising meditation. It would mean different things to different individuals however, what seems appropriate for one would not be for another. Allowing each one to discover for themselves is extremely important. Lisle has never been sensitive to adding self-care in her schedule.
Why is self-care so important for a practising practitioner?
Firstly, it is important to consider that therapists are professionals that deal with personal emotions and thoughts of clients. Listening to this for a majority of the working hours can take a bearing on one’s emotions and thought processes. Therefore, self-care will add more value to the therapist’s approach to counselling and the profession as a whole. Lizel would have benefitted a lot if she had dealt with her emotions and thoughts separately with another therapist.
Secondly, there is the therapist’s own personal problems that can cause the therapist to be unprepared for the session. If not dealt with, the session can be unproductive not just for the client but even for the therapist. The therapist can be stuck with their own personal thoughts that need to be processed with another professional therapist or senior professional in the profession. Talking to another professional will help a lot to release emotions that might be lingering from a session. Taking it into supervision is another way a therapist can deal with it. This only goes to show the importance of networking among counselling therapists. Lizel could have rescheduled appointments to deal with the issue at hand and be free from those thoughts before engaging in meeting clients.
Thirdly, long hours and back-to-back sessions can lead to feeling drained out. It is essential and of high importance that a therapist gets enough rest and breaks between sessions. This helps the therapist to process the emotions that the clients bring into the session. It also helps not to carry emotions from one session into another. Another point to consider is unwinding after working hours. It can help the body to relax and process Here, Lizel could make time for herself to compartmentalize each case and work those emotions and thoughts before going to the next session. This only highlights the importance of self-care in a therapist’s life. It also demonstrates that as much as the therapy is about taking care of others, it also is equally important to take care of oneself in the process.
The key aspect to consider here is, many a times we are under the impression that there are so many people out there that need my help, I don’t have time to take out for self-care. If self-care is missing from the picture, then over time, it will show in the physical, emotional, mental as well as social circles of one’s life. As therapists, it is of grave importance that the therapist is fully present in the session. Never underestimate the power of self-care!
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