As a child one of my favorite seasons was
summer. During the summer I would spend endless days with my Gramma.
Her house and yard were neverending. There were countless pecan trees, a
tire swing, a scary tool shed, a riding lawn mower from the 1960s,
beautiful flowers, and her vegetable garden. Growing up in a delta area
in the south, gardens are just in everyone’s DNA. She was a master
garderner, and I loved to reap the benefits of her garden. Fresh
tomatoes with salt and ranch dressing, fried squash and okra, pickled
cucumber and onion, boiled okra, and the list goes on. I miss her
garden. Vegetables do not taste the same. As a child, I thought she had
some kind of magical power. I thought she was a garden witch. No. She
simply nurtured her garden. If you have grown up in the southern delta,
you know it is hot, hot, and hotter, and depending on the year it can be
bone dry. She would be in that garden first thing in the morning, some
times in the afternoon, and in the evening pruning, watering, weeding,
collecting, and digging. She was always making sure her garden was taken
care of, and it surely was.
As counselors we need to see ourselves
as gardens. When working with counselorsin training, I notice a common
theme is stress. I also notice a lack of interventions or hobbies or
support to combat that stress. We have to tend to our gardens. We have
to implement coping skills. We are in the helping profession, which
means often we put others first, but we have to create boundaries,
strongholds, and parameters to make sure our needs are met, we are
nurtured, and we are well fed. We have to have a plan for self-care.
I want you all to have a chance to
communicate with each other about self-care needs and self-care hacks.
It is very important. The work we do is important and often thankless.
You need a plan to take care of yourself.
10 points, I want you to read the article attached and then create a response that answers:
1.) How does self-care impact human and professional development
2.) What is your plan for self-care
3.) Respond to your peers
Category: Human Development in Couseling
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“Growing and Nurturing Ourselves: The Importance of Self-Care in Personal and Professional Development”