People who deal with care-giving, professional health caregivers and other helpers tend to put themselves in low priority, and less take care of themselves. When I say caregivers, I refer both to people in the various care professions (doctors, nursing staff, psychologists, social workers, holistic therapists, counselors, teachers, etc.) as well as people who regularly take care of a family member who is sick or disabled.
A well-known phenomenon discovered around the 1990s is “compassion fatigue” (Figley 1995), which describes a unique burnout for caregivers who encounter with suffering and difficult life stories of people, and as a result are “infected” by their stories. Compassion fatigue can manifest itself in somatic phenomena of the body, in silencing phenomena (cynicism, emotional darkness, etc.) or in symptoms of secondary traumatization (identical to trauma symptoms). It is a natural phenomenon to be aware of and use as an opportunity to initiate development and growth processes, in order to be better therapists and more important, become healthier and happier people.
As a body-mind therapist, I have learned various techniques and methods that can be used for self-care, and I use them in my daily routine. Self-care requires an investment of time and energy, but in my opinion it is a must and allows me to be empathetic and compassionate, while constantly “cleaning” the heaviness and exhaustion, and charging energies and forces in my body and soul.
In recent years I have been teaching groups of therapists, teachers and people who care for family members, how to implement a routine of self-care in their lives, and to allow themselves to live with health and happiness.