Care for Yourself as You Care for Others

Through your work, you touch others in deeply meaningful ways. Though often rewarding, being a professional caregiver is also demanding. Helping people who are in pain, suffering or traumatized is stressful. It puts caregivers at risk for a host of problems: physical, emotional, financial, interpersonal and occupational. Lack of self-care exacerbates these problems.

Self-care helps you balance the demands, manage the stress and retain your capacity to care.

What is self-care?

• Being concerned about yourself, as well as others
• Looking out for your own welfare, in addition to the welfare of others
• Making sure that your needs are met, not only those of others
• Choosing things that make you feel good
• Taking actions to solve your problems
• Recognizing the importance of self-care and practicing it regularly

Choosing self-care is not an “either-or” proposition. Self-care is founded on the belief that everyone has valid needs. With a “both-and” perspective, self-care seeks to respect the needs of both care receivers and caregivers.

Learn more about self-care

Partners on the Path wants to help. Check out the self-care resources that we have developed for professional caregivers like you.