How a therapist takes care of their mental health
Many people believe that therapists are zen-like creatures who have perfectly intact mental health at all times. Afterall we are there to help you improve your mental health so we must have achieved consistent success with our own. This is not the case. Therapists are people. Therapists are human. We have daily life stress as well as our own trauma histories and unforeseen life experiences that can take us off track. I like to help my clients establish what we call a healthy pathway. We work together to cultivate and sustain the practices that promote their own mental wellness. There are many things that can take us off of that path. This is inevitable. This is life. We work on how to get back on track and practice daily rituals, activities and habits that promote our whole health. Different things work for different people. Here are some of the things that I practice to help me back onto my path:
Mindfulness. My own version of mindfulness is doing one thing at a time without distraction. If I walk, I am only walking. If I’m cleaning my home, I clean my home. If I’m doing laundry, I am doing laundry. I’m not listening to music, a podcast, I’m not on the phone. I’m focused on what I’m doing no matter how mundane the task is. Do I do this all the time perfectly? No. But I find when I am able to engage in this way I feel more calm, relaxed and at peace. I can get into a flow state much more easily where I feel fully present.
Relationships. Meaningful connections with friends and family are essential to my well being. Meeting someone for coffee, a walk or a meal and walking away knowing that person is curious and interested in your inner life and you are interested in theirs is meaningful and healing.
Food and water. Go back to the basics. When I am in a tough spot mentally I try to focus on eating healthfully and drinking plenty of water. There might be days when these are my only two goals. I like Michael Pollen’s philosophy on food - eat food (whole foods from the earth), mostly plants, not too much.
Do nothing. This is difficult to do in our hyper productive culture but I find that laying down on the floor, doing some simple stretches, staring at the ceiling or closing my eyes and breathing helps reset my brain, is deeply relaxing and allows me to go back into my day feeling more calm and centered.
These are just some of the practices I come back to when I am feeling off track. It is so important for all of us to work with a therapist or on our own to experiment and understand which practices work best for us. Mental health is not perfect, life happens and we get off track but there is always a way back to our path.