Thrivival 101: A Fresh Take on Self-Care for Female Mental Health Clinicians

We are Dr. Melissa Tiessen and Dr. Karen Dyck of Intentional Therapist. As mental health clinicians we all know that self-care is important. We talk with our clients about it ALL.THE.TIME and yet, ironically, we often struggle with it ourselves! Even worse, we tend to do this in silence, because, who wants to let any of our colleagues know that we might be struggling with our own self-care? After all, aren’t we supposed to be the experts in this?! 

Here’s the thing: There are unique factors (about our training, our work, and our gender socialization) that contribute to the very real and normal struggle that we, especially as female mental health clinicians, have when it comes to our own self-care. The good news is that together we can lessen the struggle but only if we’re willing to break the silence. 

We hope that through our down-to-earth discussions with other like-minded female mental health clinicians you will find the courage to elevate your own self-care, and move from simply surviving to truly thriving. Because, in the end, taking care of ourselves is not only how we best take care of our clients, but it’s also how we create the kind of life from which we don’t need to escape. (We know, intriguing concept!) 

To learn more about Intentional Therapist and our 4 C’s model of self-care - Connection, Compassion, Courage, and Creativity - visit us at: www.intentionaltherapist.ca