Greetings!
This month's issue of Blooming News: A Mid-Month Update is all about self-care. At times it may feel easier to put others first, especially around the holidays. However, as blogger Katie Reed wrote, "Self-care is giving the world the best of you, instead of what's left of you." We could not agree more - so take time to fill your cup, that way you'll have something to toast with!
We're Officially Blogging!!
Not so Merry & Bright?
Managing Grief During the Holidays
Grief doesn’t take vacation, nor break for festive holidays. The holiday season is laden with expectations of excitement, joy, gathering, and celebration. Yet these expectations often pose an added burden to those who are grieving ... Whether experiencing grief personally, or supporting someone who is grieving over the holiday season, you'll want to read more here.
Resource Of The Month!
Therapist Tips!
What stops us from practicing self-care? Life, fear, time, old habits and thought patterns? There are a multitude of reasons we don't practice self-care but, for as many excuses we give ourselves to not practice self-care, there are double the positive rewards just in trying it. Changing our neuro-pathways can be hard. We are teaching ourselves something new, and using new muscles. We need to create muscle memory through new paths of thinking, and then it will become second nature to us. Old habits take time to change but, replacing them with new, healthy, habits is worth the time and effort. If you make a change and forget to do it one day don't give up, just try it again the next day. Part of self-care is about forgiveness and giving ourselves grace on the days we need it, and then pushing ourselves on the days we can. So why not try it? It can only bring you positive rewards, and you might actually like it! -Shannon Tait, MA, LMFT, GMHS
Around the holidays, it's easy to get caught up in the 'shoulds.' "We should visit family," "we should clean the house," "we should be more creative in moving our Elf every day," there's an endless list. The greatest gift you can give yourself is to let go of the 'shoulds' and focus on activities that nurture and energize you to be ready for the new year. - Zosia Whittaker, MSW, LISCW
Try the Finch app for self-care!
A couple months ago I was going through a rough patch (yes, therapists struggle too), in large part because had stopped engaging in any meaningful self-care. I needed something to help bring me out of the funk - that's when I remembered that I had downloaded the Finch app more than a year ago, but I had never opened it. I figured it was high time I try it out, and I'm so glad I did. Now, not only do I use it everyday (bye-bye, funk!), I've gotten family members to start using it, as well as several clients! So far, everyone seems to really enjoy the app - especially once they get into customizing their goals. I've even had some clients use it to help them complete tasks they might otherwise forget, or avoid. It's cute, it's fun, and the free version is more than sufficient to get your self-care journey on track! -Julie Miller, MA, LMHCA
Get Finch here.
Gamify Your Self-Care!
Featured Staff
This month's Featured Staff is the first therapist ever hired at Blooming Leaf Counseling! Tamara has used her time at Blooming Leaf to evolve her therapeutic style, focusing on being highly client centered. She enjoys helping people who are struggling with grief, trauma, and life transitions, and she's looking to support a few new client's. Click here to learn more about Tamara!
Credits:
Created by Julie Miller, MA, LMHCA with the support of the entire Blooming Leaf Counseling team.