You mean your CEUs on compassion fatigue didn’t help?

I have a theory that every time a supervisor utters the phrase “self-care”, an angel gets its wings. I kid, of course. But all joking aside, the term “self-care” has been thrown around like confetti so often, it has started to lose its meaning.

What does self-care mean exactly? A bubble bath? A glass of cab? No amount of yoga or take-out tacos is going to counteract the build up of compassion fatigue, pressure, and trauma that today’s therapists are facing. All against the backdrop of a broken mental health system. In a pandemic. In a world that is (literally) on fire.

We’ve probably all muttered the whole “you have to put your oxygen mask on first” metaphor to our clients- I think it’s a rite of passage. But how much are we really buying into it? If you have found yourself saying the following:

“I don’t need therapy, my problems aren’t that serious”

“I do this for a living, I should know how to make myself feel better”

“What would a therapist tell me that I don’t already know?”

then please know, if nothing else, that you are more than worthy of support. Listen, I don’t have to sell you on therapy. What I do want to remind you is that you are deserving of your own space. Filled with your own stuff. It would be my honor to hold that stuff for you.

The mental health field is not designed to sustain the mental health of mental health workers.

If you are struggling, this doesn’t make you a bad therapist. This makes you human.