As Mental Health Practitioners we give so much of ourselves. Often people who are drawn to this profession are natural givers. People who want to help people. People who have already been supporters and #healers just by default and have noticed that for whatever reason, they have a gift.
They pursue the path, continuing to expand on both their natural gifts as well as learning the professional skills is takes to become a therapist. It can be an extremely rewarding profession. It also takes a lot of learning and grunt work to get to a place of confidence and impact.
One problem is that so often, there is a culture within this service-oriented profession, of over-giving. People whose role it is to support others are not supported themselves, ending up depleted and neglecting the parts of their lives that are the most important to them.
As #mentalhealthprofessionals, I believe it is our job to be pioneers of mental and emotional health. Not only are we support people but we are also activists, in a sense. Our culture is not one in which we are encouraged to address mental and emotional health. Capitalism and patriarchal thinking and systems actually tend to discourage our ability to advocate for our emotional and mental health.
That is why I created this blog. Because I believe it IS possible to have mental, emotional, psychological #well-being while also being in this profession. I believe it's not only possible, but for many it's imperative in order to ensure that we are able to continue supporting others and using our skills for the betterment of our society. I envision a world in which people do prioritize their mental health, where people who take time for themselves are the norm rather than the exception. Where work, and service, and #martyrdom is not glorified. And I believe that a big way that that starts, is with mental health practitioners.
I feel passionate about spreading that message and supporting mental health workers to be well, and empowered in all areas of their lives, including their business and professions.
