While researching how to start a blog, I read over and over again to find a niche that is near and dear to your heart and that can apply to others. I contemplated for well over a week on what I would want to discuss with the Internet. I knew that I wanted to focus on something mental health related given my background as a mental health counselor and my own personal battle with anxiety and depression. I narrowed it down to something that is not commonly discussed and that is often forgotten about — ourselves.
I remember sitting in my practicum class in grad school when my professor was asking for topics to be covered over the course of the semester. He suggested picking topics that may not have been discussed in other classes or in the textbooks. Almost instantaneously, I muttered, “Self-care.” It was not something that had been covered in-depth in any of my classes given that I was about to enter a field with extremely high rates of job-related burnout.
My message is simple. I would like to open up the discussion on self-care to help others engage in self-care strategies in order to prevent such high levels of stress and burnout in everyday life. It should not take until graduate school for someone to understand and apply these concepts in our increasingly stressful society. Therefore, I am asking you to join me on this journey of self-care. I will be exploring concepts, philosophies, strategies, and ideas behind self-care. I will share some that I have worked for me personally, and others that might work best for you. Remember: we will be putting the “self” into “self-care.” I look forward to it.
-The Caring Counselor