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Reflection Take-Away:

Prior to today, the concept of self-care had not cemented in my mind as it has now. Reading through all the resources spoke to me, it caused me to realize that I need to work on my self-care. I realized how little I do take care of myself and that there is absolutely no shame in caring for myself, in fact it is the most critical action I can take to be effective. For some reason, it is like a light bulb went off for the first time in my life when it comes to self-care. I even realized I felt guilty on days when I needed recovery after helping a student through a traumatic event. I mean, I really did not realize how much I need to develop a better system for caring for myself. I cannot be the counselor or person I aspire to be without proper self-care.

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It is imperative that counselors implement self-care for themselves. It is our ethical duty to exercise self-care so as to maintain the ability to counsel with students and staff alike.

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Exercise

Exercise is a critical need for me to maintain good physical health and sleep. When I exercise regularly, I sleep and this allows me to be present in each day. When I am unable to sleep, I borrow energy from caffeine, which causes damage to my body. I am committing to recognizing that exercise is critical self-care for me to be effective as a counselor.

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Process emotions after working with staff or students - period. It is imperative that I take the time to journal the feelings I have after the day so that I do not suppress the emotions and not acknowledge how I may be feeling. I will extend grace to myself and accept that I too am human and will feel. This will allow me to learn from the experiences and extend that learning to future experiences.

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Spiritual Life: Engage in daily prayer and Bible study that allows me to go to a greater source than myself to seek comfort, encouragement, strength, understanding and hope. Also, attend a women's Bible study to build outside friendships.