Self-Care—A Needed Respite!
Happy Spring! I do hope you have been taking advantage of our wonderful weather. Today we went to see the “super bloom” at the Santa Rosa Plateau. We took the hike to the vernal pool; it was so pretty, and we saw flowers everywhere. It was such a lovely day with the lush plants, and it was nice to feel the sun on my face--trying to soak up that needed Vitamin D. I do enjoy the extra daylight we receive this time of year, and I appreciate having the day off to recharge and practice some self-care. In fact, I am taking a few extra days off for a mini-vacation this week. I have a couple of small projects I am working on but my I am going to spend as much time as possible outside hiking, sailing, and swimming. Tomorrow’s hike will be in Anza Borrego State Park and I’m hoping to get out there early enough to see the flowers and the Big Horn Sheep.
I do hope you are also building self-care time into your life as well. Can you remember your last vacation? What did you do? Where did you go? We so need our breaks and vacations to help us prevent burnout and to remain effective therapists. I know some therapists are fearful about taking a vacation because they feel the clients won’t come back or they might have an emergency while the therapist is gone. This could happen, but most of the time my clients are happy that I am taking a vacation. One of my clients stated, “Good for you, enjoy your self-care time.” My clients know that this time I am only gone a week, and then I will return. I gave them two weeks’ advanced notice and who they should contact if they do have a true emergency. It is rare, but I like for my clients to have a “just in case” number; I think it also provides them peace of mind too.
Do you have your therapist tribe in place? A person or two that can cover for you when you take a vacation or need a break? If you do not, I would encourage you to find a couple of therapists in your area that could take that responsibility on. It is a little more work, but usually, when I cover the week, it is pretty quiet. However, I had a couple once that came in because they just felt they fight too much if they can’t get in to see a therapist. They were a funny couple, and it wasn’t a true emergency, but they begged to come in to see me. They spent most of the session telling me what they had learned from their therapist and how great he was and only about 5 minutes telling me about a fight they had.
Here are a few self-care ideas for you that I might also be doing this week.
- Read a good book
- Meditate (Yes, I do this daily)
- Get a massage
- Exercise
- Inhale a nice fragrance--try peppermint, citrus, or frankincense
- Take a new route to work
- Go cloud watching
- Fly a kite or take time to play
Until next time, be well.
Sherry
