Lifeline Booklet 2021

How do you currently take care of yourself? Do these strategies include all dimensions of wellbeing?

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION:

Even if you don’t experience secondary trauma, it is still important to do some form of self-care.

WHAT IS SELF-CARE? Self-care is the mindset, activities, practices and habits we bring to bear against stress, unhappiness, illness, depression and many more negative emotions. However, self-care when practiced with purpose, can help build resilience to stress. Self-care is about giving ourselves relief when we feel overwhelmed. It is about addressing our problems holistically. Self- care activities are usually carried out, or at least initiated by, the person themselves. Self-care helps process the emotional reactions that may come up as an Accidental Counsellor.

• Self-care is any activity that we do deliberately and actively plan in order to take care of our mental, emotional, and physical health. • Could be debriefing or talking through something after an interaction • It’s an active choice. • “Something that refuels us, rather than takes from us.” • It is not only about considering our needs; it is rather about knowing what we need to do in order to take care of ourselves , to enable us to be able to take care of others as well 19

19 https://psychcentral.com/blog/what-self-care-is-and-what-it-isnt-2/ 22 Lifeline Northern Beaches