Samantha Hanson, LPC, ATR, Clini-Coach®

Tag stress

self care isn t selfish signage
How does a therapist do self care?

How do you unwind after a demanding day?

Every-once in a while I get asked about my own hobbies or self-care. A popular question is does a therapist have a therapist? Yes, a therapist is human top, and as we hear all of the stories around us it’s important to engage in our own therapy and forms of self-care.

self care
Photo by Taryn Elliott on Pexels.com

Do I doom scroll or hyper fixate on things like art supplies and have about 20 projects going at once? Of course! All in moderation of course, finding that balance for myself as I promote to clients. Somedays are harder than others, so figuring out a routine and not beating myself up if I can’t stick to it.

I make sure to take care of my pet’s needs, as animals are sassy and they technically own my home, and then make sure I’m fed and comfortable. A goal this year is to read more and work on some of those 20 projects listed above. I’m also trying out new puzzle games and brought out sudoku books, I’m terrible with math but I love me a numbers style organization puzzle!

crafting
Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com

On days I’m home before dark and its good weather I take the dogs for a walk, for both them and me and schedule weekly walks with my meetup group “walk and talk Fox cities meetup!” Now that the weather is hopefully getting nicer. We are established on meetup.com and newly on Facebook! Check-us out sometime.

What do you do for self care?

Group updates!

I have updated my Facebook events here, as well as my online directories on Psychology today and Therapy den! At this time there is no waitlist for these groups, and the support groups do have a minimum requirement to run.  For the virtual attendees I can send an art kit to you that we would be using in person so you may create with us from home.

These events include:

Community Open studio

Relaxed environment to come create – first and third Friday of the month $7 to cover supplies, under 12 requires an adult to stay. How does it work? I turn on relaxing music and bring my supplies down to the conference room, you can create alone or engage with others. Please contact me for more info or check here

(for those who previously showed interest in this Facebook event- I accidentally deleted the whole series when trying to cancel one date due to weather, so I apologize, you won’t need to redo any form, but you should go back in and click going or interested to receive notifications)

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Adolescent Inclusivity Support Group

$50 to attend, private pay / no insurance – 6-10 spots-preregistration required here; Virtual attendance is accepted. Please contact me for more info or check here

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Pandemic Stress Support for Adults.

50$ to attend, private pay / no insurance – 6-10 spots-preregistration required here; Virtual attendance is accepted Please contact me for more info or check here

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#Therapythursday #anxiety #counselingnearme #depression #stress #bpd #mooddisorders #womenissues #menshealth #teenhealth #craftnight #openstudio #create #arttherapy #arttherapyrocks #supportgroup #stupidcancer

silhouette of person raising its hand
Mindfulness, Meditation

“Case of the mondays….”  I am feeling this today! I was looking at a new app over the weekend I found in one of my therapy forums, called “insight timer”.  As some of you might see already on my business page, I did a “Facebook live” recently with two guided mindfulness scripts.  “Leaves on a stream, and eye of the hurricane”.  I am not sure how to connect that live with this blog, but you can access it here.   In these scripts I read out loud and you, as the reader can close your eyes and imagine being in the “story”, for example, sitting by the stream, seeing thoughts float by as leaves, or the chaos of all the thoughts and feelings rushing around you, while you are safe in the middle of the eye of the storm. 

close up photography of leaves with droplets
Photo by sohail nachiti on Pexels.com

With Insight timer, it has probably about a million meditations, nature sounds, white noise, drumming sessions, and much, much more for free to experience on your own time.  I highly recommend looking into it, especially as it’s a free app.  Mindfulness and meditation can be as short as 30 seconds, or as long as you need it – some half hour. I recommend starting small, fitting it in while you are eating or preparing for bed, or waking in the morning.  For some it can be uncomfortable due to the busyness of our lives and suddenly sitting and listening, not “doing something”.  That sitting—–> is self-care, and it’s important to remember that. ” Take time to smell the flowers” or listen to a meditation, or nature sounds. Comment here what is helpful for you!