In 2010, my mentor, Carrie Leavitt, invited me to collaborate to make a presentation on self-care. She had googled self-nurturing and got the message, “no results found.” She wanted to go deeper than “take a bubble bath” by delving into validation and share real ideas. So we created 5 lunch hour webinars for our colleagues at the Oregon Family Support Network. Combining neurobiology and a gentle approach, we made positive change at little cost.
The pay offs were noticeable from both human and organizational perspectives. Less turn over. Less burn out. More compassion. Carrie and I shared lessons learned at the 2010 national conference for the Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health.
Individual lessons:
- Self-care isn’t selfish.
- Self-care is individualized.
- Self-care can be a mindset as well as activities; both are valid and powerful.
Organizational lessons:
- Self-care became a shared value over less healthy work practices
- Self-care benefits the organization. There is less turn over, less- burnt out employees with more compassionate humans
- Employees didn’t overuse resources devoted to self-care.
What are you doing for self-care at work? How does your organization support you? You and your organization may have it all figured out. If not, contact me for consultation for yourself or your workplace.
Further reading on organizational support of employee self-care and mental health:
SELF-CARE & ORGANIZATIONAL VIDEO
Bruce Perry | Neurosequential Network | COVID Series 7
“This brief (25 min) video highlights the reasons self-care and organizational care are needed for individuals and organizations that work in high stress settings, or with individuals with trauma histories. Examples of integration of regulatory strategies into work-flow are provided.”
ALL THESE VIRTUAL WORK HAPPY HOURS AND TEAM GAMES ARE EXHAUSTING
Alison Green | Slate.com | Human Interest| Work
“In an effort to relieve employees’ stress and build camaraderie, some companies are leaning heavily on things like virtual happy hours, team games on Slack or Zoom, and personal check-ins centered on mental health. But in the process, some are actually increasing employees’ stress rather than easing it.”