How We Care

Elizabeth and Paul take a lucky dip approach to the card resource '50 Acts of Professional Self-Care' developed by Siobhan McLean of Kirwin Mc Lean Associates and Self-Care Psychology and pull out some cards at random to prompt discussion.

More information on this resource is available via Twitter @SelfCarePsy, via facebook @selfcarepsychology or at selfcarepsychology.com

Two exercises mentioned at the end and drawn from the above resource are:

The Equal Breathing Exercise

Equalising breathing can calm the body and mind very effectively, and can be great to do at times of stress.  It is taken from the Yoga tradition where it is known as Sama-Vritti, and also backed by scientific observation.

To prepare you can lie down, sit up straight, or stand up straight, then;

1. Breathe in through your nose for a count of 4
2. Pause
3. Exhale for a count of 4
4. Repeat for a few minutes, or as long as you feel comfortable.

The Passive Progressive Relaxation Exercise

Used to help people achieve deep relaxation. It can be done at work (e.g. at your desk). For best results it is best to lie flat, however.  The best way to experience this is via a recording, and there are may versions of the exercise available free online  (e.g. on YouTube) You will be guided through each area of your body, relaxing each as you progress through the exercise.

 If you’d like to find our more or obtain a transcript of this episode, contact Elizabeth via www.elizabethturp.co.uk  or Paul [email protected]

The opening passage read by Paul is from a LinkedIn post written by Colin Newlyn (Decrapify Work) posted 17/10/24. Colins insights into workplace culture and employee well-being are well worth checking out. You can find more here https://decrapifywork.substack.com/

Later on Paul quotes from a linked in post by Chance Marshall from 18/10/24 regarding the new UK Labour governments plans to 'encourage' people with serious mental illness intro work.

Check out our many related episodes on self-care for helping professionals and Episode
 

25 on how our beliefs affect our work.
 

https://how-we-care.simplecast.com/episodes/how-we-care-episode-25-the-impact-of-beliefs-on-clients-and-practitioners

The Harpers Bazzar article on rustout mentioned in this episode is here: https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/beauty/mind-body/a43695947/rust-out/

A couple more interesting articles on Rustout are here  
https://www.stylist.co.uk/life/careers/rust-out-signs-impact-mental-health/761502

https://www.maddyness.com/uk/2024/01/15/rust-out-the-warning-signs-and-what-to-do-about-them/
 

Therapist Burnout Podcast: Mental Health, Business, and Career Tips for Therapists, Counselors, & Psychologists Why Is Therapist Burnout Different?

Burnout is something almost every profession deals with, but for therapists, it hits differently. We’re not just exhausted from the long hours or the endless paperwork—it’s the emotional weight of holding space for others, the vicarious trauma we take on, and the unrelenting pressure to be “okay” so we can keep helping our clients
 

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/therapist-burnout-podcast-mental-health-business-and/id1698139097?i=1000672036990

Overthinking About Burnout Magical Overthinkers Podcast

Chronically stressed? Emotionally exhausted? Depleted to the point of physical suffering, dissociation, and paranoia that things will never improve? Burnout, which is not just fatigue or boredom but rather what happens when our bodies fail to complete the "stress response cycle." That's according to our guest, Amelia Nagoksi, co-author of the bestselling book Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle.

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/magical-overthinkers/id1745220403?i=1000660279335

Elizabeth and Paul discuss coping with the recent extreme events in the UK and worldwide as a helper and how love, connection, community and openness to understanding can help us take care of ourselves and our clients during challenging times.

Read more about Imam Adam Kelwick and Nan's Against Nazis here:
 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/aug/08/ice-cream-nans-against-nazis-uplifting-acts-face-far-right-riots

Also see this short YouTube video 'Why a Liverpool Imam reached out to far-right rioters outside his mosque'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23FuOgGZqkM&list=WL&index=8

Episode 17 of this podcast with guest Therapists Connect founder Dr Peter Blundell discusses the importance of how we engage with social issues
 

https://how-we-care.simplecast.com/episodes/episode-17-keeping-up-with-social-change-as-a-helping-professional-the-importance-of-challenging-cpd

For Elizabeth's articles on Long Covid: https://www.elizabethturp.co.uk/archived-articles

David Byrne's 'Reasons to Be Cheerful' project as mentioned in the podcast: https://reasonstobecheerful.world/

In episode 25 of How We Care Elizabeth & Paul talk about how client's beliefs about themselves, practitioners beliefs about their work and their own personal beliefs can impact progress and effectiveness and how to address this. Drawing on evolutionary theory and the neuroscience of fear, considering why helping is a political act and social context matters, this conversation goes far and wide into the complexity of individual belief systems.
 

Article available soon:

Why therapist curiosity and openness matter in a changing world

https://www.elizabethturp.co.uk/articles

Earlier episode referred to in this one: Ep 23: Keeping it Human: The impact of dehumanising systems on well-being

https://how-we-care.simplecast.com/episodes/how-we-care-episode-23-keeping-it-human-the-impact-of-dehumanising-systems-on-well-being

For counsellors: Check out Good Enough Counsellors Facebook group run by Josephine Hughes for a safe space to discuss practice issues.

In this episode we consider the ways in which good listening underpins effective helping and our wider interactions in everyday life. We discuss the behaviours that signify good listening, and identify some of the factors that can interfere with deep listening, such as fatigue and intrusive thoughts.

We reflect back on our very first episode 'Being with Emotions in Helping Conversations' which featured examples of what good listening actually is and how we can be more present with difficult feelings when they come up in non-therapy helping interactions.
 

https://how-we-care.simplecast.com/episodes/how-we-care-no1-being-with-emotions-in-helping-conversations

Also, you might want to check out episodes 3, 5 and 18 of How We Care for self-care for the practitioner and episode 12 for self-awareness for helping professionals. https://how-we-care.simplecast.com/episodes

In the Assembly BBC programme, with a diverse group of people asking the actor/director

Michael Sheen questions - he listens with patience and makes space for their differing communication styles.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001xyj5/the-assembly

Elizabeth and Paul consider the impact of dehumanising systems on well-being, both in the workplace and wider society. They also discuss some of the ways in which helping professions can support clients/patients/customers etc through the effects of these dehumanising systems.

The powerful ITV drama about the post office scandal discussed in this episode is linked to below;

https://www.itv.com/watch/mr-bates-vs-the-post-office/10a0469/10a0469a0001

A link is made in this episode to a previous episode of the How We Care Episode    'Turning Scars into Service'. We make the point that often people who experience dehumanising treatment, are often strengthened in their resolve to prevent it happening to themselves again, or to others, or strengthened in their empathy and understanding when it does happen.  

Timpsons is mentioned as an example of a positive company culture and the link below is an article by their CEO, James Timpson

https://gunnercooke.com/is-culture-really-that-important-with-james-timpson-ceo-of-timpson/

Any thoughts or comments on this episode? Or themes you would like us to cover?

Contact us via LinkedIn

linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-turp-11a90035

linkedin.com/in/paul-gaunt-bbb02874

Elizabeth and Paul discuss whether they love their clients, the different types of love experienced in human connection, what love means in helping conversations and the effect that attentive, accepting, warm, therapeutic relationships can have on clients and why this is the case. They also consider potential problems within meaningful professional helping relationships and how to address them.

Ancient Greek Words for Love: https://www.greecehighdefinition.com/blog/9-different-types-of-love-according-to-the-ancient-greeks

James Frey 'A Million Little Pieces' novel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Million_Little_Pieces

 “At the end of the day people won't remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel.”  Maya Angelou

The therapeutic relationship as determinant of outcome: https://therapymeetsnumbers.com/the-therapeutic-alliance/

Episode 21: Transitions in Work and Life: how do big changes in life (parenthood, retirement, loss, redundancy, ill health, etc) impact us and what can be useful to know about coping with changes to our roles, whether chosen or imposed on us.

Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) and role transitions from article in the Clinical Psychology Review: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4109031/

Previous relevant episodes of How We Care referred to in this episode:

Episodes 3, 5, 18
 

Episode 8: The Courage of the Person-Centred Approach
 

with best wishes,

Rehare of our first, and second most downloaded, episode 

Dr Oliver Jenkin's article Engaging with the emotional content of career guidance can be found at

https://indigo.careers/engaging-with-the-emotional-content-of-career-guidance/

A good explanation of Carl Rogers'  Core Conditions of congruence in counselling is here

https://medium.com/achology/carl-rogers-and-the-core-conditions-of-counselling-a87167028905

An article by Charles Handy on the concept of 'Proper Selfishness is at http://spiritualityandjustice.brahmakumaris.org/images/stories/articles/SiP_Article_Proper_Selfishness.pdf

There's an article from Psychology Today on Radical Self-Care here https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/peaceful-parents-happy-kids/201401/committing-radical-self-care#:~:text=%20Committing%20to%20Radical%20Self-Care%20%201%20Nurture,to%20you.%20Do%20you%20need%20some...%20More%20

 If you’d like to find our more or obtain a transcript of this episode, contact Elizabeth via www.elizabethturp.co.uk  Twitter at @lizahpool or Paul at www.paulgaunt.co uk  Twitter at @paulgoodwork

Reshare: Episode 3: Self-Care for Helping Professionals, part 1.

Want to start the new season with good habits for your own wellbeing? We have plenty of ideas for self- reflection on possibly the How We Care Podcasts most important topic: Practitioner Wellbeing.

Elizabeth and Paul discuss their best self-care hacks, as well as some of the ways in which helping professionals can neglect caring for themselves because of a focus on prioritising the needs of those they help, and how that can be counterproductive for our own-well-being.

See also: Episode 5: Self-Care for Helping Professionals, part 2,

                Episode 18: Acts of Self-Care for Helping Professionals.