You've Got to Take Care of Yourself in Order to Help Others

One of the problems that face many people in the helping industry, especially therapists and psychologists, is that they will bring the problems of their clients into their own lives. This creates a dilemma for them. While they really want to help other people, they often will neglect themselves.

After a few of self-neglect, many therapists will burn out. The more successful a therapist's or psychologist's practice is, the faster they will burn out. Again, this is in any profession where a person is helping another person on a continuing basis. But it is especially true for those people that deal with the psyche of a person. The more empathetic you may be, the more you'll start to feel depressed. This is because tend to bring the problems of your client into your own psyche.

As a professional helper, need to do a lot of self-care. Why self-care? Think of it this way, if you were completely broke and owed well over $100,000 to your creditors and such, how would you feel? You'd probably feel lousy, right? That is what happens to professional helpers - they are emotionally bankrupt. On the other hand, if you had $2 million dollars in your bank account and was debt-free, how would you feel? I would assume great. When you do a lot of self-care on a consistent basis, you are building up your emotional bank account.

Once you have a large emotional bank account, then you will be able to better serve your clients. You will be more involved in listening to them because you are able to draw off the reserves you have stored. That is important.

There are many ways you can start a self-care program for yourself. One immediate way is to take some time and get back into nature. Find your favorite place in nature that is nearby and spend a few hours there. Remember, it is about you. So when you are there, be there. Be in the present. Past and future should not be in your mindset. Just enjoy the experience.

Another self-care opportunity is to spend a day at a spa. Let others take care of you. Just relax and enjoy the soothing massages and other treatments. You owe it to yourself. If you are a guy, you can also get a massage; just don't go for a beer at a local bar. That is not self-care.

Get into yoga or Tai Chi. Both are great in relaxing the mind and exercising the body. You'll gain a lot of self-care points with this.

Let go of any problems you may have before you go to sleep at night. Write them down and toss them into the waste basket. That's where they belong, unless you can reframe them into possible opportunities. The goal is to do self-care (and a lot of it) so your reserves become super-reserves. You will do yourself good as well as those around you.

Finally, you should strive to do self-care on a continuous and consistent basis. You should always be telling yourself that you deserve it. And remember, you are also better serving those you are being paid to care for when you care for yourself first.

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Bob Choat works as a Peak Performance Coach & Trainer and is focused on performers in every industry reach a higher level in their lives. They include business executives, entrepreneurs, athletes, actors, speakers, and other potential peak performers.

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