Staff Perspective: Therapist, Health Thyself: Do We Really Need Self-Care?
I have a confession to make. I have never really bought into the concept of self-care from a personal perspective. I do think frequently about the risk for burnout in in the behavioral health field, I fully support self-care for others, and I encourage time for self-care among friends and colleagues. For myself though, the concept seemed foreign. The analogy of putting on one’s oxygen mask first before helping others should the need arise on an airplane comes to mind – except, in one version of the analogy, for the pilot, who is too busy trying to get the plane out of the situation so that others can use those masks. Like the pilot, I felt my role was to keep going and push through whatever situation without stopping for oxygen.
This is somewhat embarrassing, but it was almost an internal point of pride. No need for pausing to eat, scheduling back to back plans, rushing to get the most out of each day. It felt so productive, even if I wasn’t actually enjoying much in the moment. Self-care takes time, I thought; even if I could get out of the house for, say, yoga, surely I’d feel less stressed if I used that time to get something important done.
It makes sense that we feel pressure. For many of us, waiting lists are so long and there are so many in need of behavioral health help there is a push to max out caseloads. When I was active duty, the Army was hiring contractors with a job description of seeing 40 patients with PTSD per week, of course on top of other duties. So there are realistic environmental constraints to any behavior change that involves time and energy – and don’t most?
One behavior change to relieve this pressure may be to decrease behavior, that is, to say “no” where feasible. You can see Dr. Carin Lefkowitz’s engaging take on this strategy just a few months ago here
In that light, what if instead self-care does not have to mean adding behavior change, not one more to-do to cram in, but a mindset change? Perhaps you have discovered that already, but it was a lightbulb moment for me. I thought if I didn’t drive hard enough, something bad would happen. I wasn’t sure what that something was, but it was definitely bad. If I don’t finish this write-up as fast as I possibly could, if I don’t read this new article or attend this optional webinar, if I don’t vacuum and scrub down the kitchen every night, what is actually the worst that could happen? The world will not end – it just feels that way. In fact, it is not the tasks themselves, rather, it is the self-imposed expectation for efficiency that is draining. If self-care means putting less pressure on ourselves, not squeezing in more, there is definitely room for improvement for many of us I suspect.
I have a long way to go in learning not to try to be the pilot on the plane. Then again, maybe I never really was to begin with.
The opinions in CDP Staff Perspective blogs are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Science or the Department of Defense.
Diana Dolan, Ph.D., CBSM, DBSM, is a clinical psychologist serving as a Senior Military Behavioral Health Psychologist with the Center for Deployment Psychology at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. In this capacity, she develops and presents trainings on a variety of EBPs and deployment-related topics, and provides consultation services.
I have a confession to make. I have never really bought into the concept of self-care from a personal perspective. I do think frequently about the risk for burnout in in the behavioral health field, I fully support self-care for others, and I encourage time for self-care among friends and colleagues. For myself though, the concept seemed foreign. The analogy of putting on one’s oxygen mask first before helping others should the need arise on an airplane comes to mind – except, in one version of the analogy, for the pilot, who is too busy trying to get the plane out of the situation so that others can use those masks. Like the pilot, I felt my role was to keep going and push through whatever situation without stopping for oxygen.
This is somewhat embarrassing, but it was almost an internal point of pride. No need for pausing to eat, scheduling back to back plans, rushing to get the most out of each day. It felt so productive, even if I wasn’t actually enjoying much in the moment. Self-care takes time, I thought; even if I could get out of the house for, say, yoga, surely I’d feel less stressed if I used that time to get something important done.
It makes sense that we feel pressure. For many of us, waiting lists are so long and there are so many in need of behavioral health help there is a push to max out caseloads. When I was active duty, the Army was hiring contractors with a job description of seeing 40 patients with PTSD per week, of course on top of other duties. So there are realistic environmental constraints to any behavior change that involves time and energy – and don’t most?
One behavior change to relieve this pressure may be to decrease behavior, that is, to say “no” where feasible. You can see Dr. Carin Lefkowitz’s engaging take on this strategy just a few months ago here
In that light, what if instead self-care does not have to mean adding behavior change, not one more to-do to cram in, but a mindset change? Perhaps you have discovered that already, but it was a lightbulb moment for me. I thought if I didn’t drive hard enough, something bad would happen. I wasn’t sure what that something was, but it was definitely bad. If I don’t finish this write-up as fast as I possibly could, if I don’t read this new article or attend this optional webinar, if I don’t vacuum and scrub down the kitchen every night, what is actually the worst that could happen? The world will not end – it just feels that way. In fact, it is not the tasks themselves, rather, it is the self-imposed expectation for efficiency that is draining. If self-care means putting less pressure on ourselves, not squeezing in more, there is definitely room for improvement for many of us I suspect.
I have a long way to go in learning not to try to be the pilot on the plane. Then again, maybe I never really was to begin with.
The opinions in CDP Staff Perspective blogs are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Science or the Department of Defense.
Diana Dolan, Ph.D., CBSM, DBSM, is a clinical psychologist serving as a Senior Military Behavioral Health Psychologist with the Center for Deployment Psychology at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. In this capacity, she develops and presents trainings on a variety of EBPs and deployment-related topics, and provides consultation services.