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Who Cares for the
Care-giver?
Tools for Nurturing the Self
by Lucia Capacchione, Ph.D., A.T.R. |
Who cares for the care-giver? This is a
question I hear all the time from those in the helping
professionals. Many of them are teachers, nurses,
therapists, social workers, and other health care
providers. They are suffering from burn-out, chronic or
acute illness, anxiety, depression or a general sense of
being overwhelmed.
Let’s face an uncomfortable truth: Professionals trained
to assist others are given precious little education in
how to care for themselves. They often work for
organizations that focus on the patients, clients and
customers. That is their mission. It is what they are
paid for. But what about the care-givers who provide
these services? Are they getting their needs met? My
observation is that in too many cases, they are not.
Training for helping professionals is sorely lacking in
self-care programs for the professionals themselves.
Their education and licensing is rigorous, stressful and
focused on the curriculum and achieving their goal of
becoming licensed or certified and then finding work.
For example, in many states, I have been invited to
offer CEU courses in Expressive Arts as therapy for
nurses, social workers, therapists and other health care
workers. In many instances, I was told that the
workshop had to focus exclusively on care of patients
and clients. If that were the case, we could offer it
for CEUs. In other words, the techniques had to be used
with or taught to others. However, if the workshop were
for the benefit of the care-giver’s well-being, we could
not offer CEUs. I was and am still shocked by this rule.
Of course, I got around this by wording the descriptions
so that the officials thought I was following their
guidelines, saying the techniques were for use with
patients. In the workshop, I did what I pleased and led
the professionals through experiential exercises in
journaling and expressive arts therapies. They ate it up
and thanked me profusely. They learned how to use these
tools for themselves, following my motto: You can’t take
anybody else where you haven’t been. They want to use
these techniques with patients and clients. But as far
as I’m concerned, the care-giver must come first
I am reminded of the rules of air travel in an
emergency. If you are traveling with a child, use your
oxygen mask first, then take care of the child.
How can we care-givers give from an empty or half full
cup? We simply cannot. As a therapist in private
practice for over thirty years, and trainer of mental
and medical health care professionals, I have had to use
“my own medicine” in order to restore my energy, balance
my life and feed my soul. If I had not had this
“medicine” I would never have been able to survive being
in this profession.
The “medicine” of which I speak is my Creative Journal
Method, using drawing and writing with both hands. One
of the most effective journal prompts I have developed
is one for releasing emotions stored in the body which
become toxic (according to Candace Pert’s research). I
use this to get in touch with my needs and find my inner
truth while accessing and integrating both sides of my
brain. The non-dominant hand (the one you don’t normally
write with) gives voice to the right brain, feelings,
physical sensations and needs, creativity for problem
solving and inner wisdom.
My book, The Art of Emotional Healing, reports on the
research of James Pennebaker and others showing that
writing about a trauma or illness improves the immune
system and results in fewer doctor’s visits. I was
reminded recently how essential it is for me to give
myself time for Creative Journaling. I had been through
the week from hell. A friend had recently been diagnosed
with cancer. Clients and friends were calling me with
major life crises. Tax time was looming and my furnace
failed and needed to be completely replaced in the
middle of an extreme cold spell. I could go on and on
about my challenges. Suffice it to say, it was one of
those weeks.
On Sunday, I took a day off, sequestered myself in my
studio, and journaled for a long time. Picturing and
conversing with my body, letting my non-dominant hand
speak for the body, I found out exactly what it needed.
I always ask: What body part are you? How do you feel?
Why do you feel that way? What can I do to help you? I
ask the questions with my dominant hand, and answer with
my non-dominant hand. If you try this journal prompt,
you’ll understand why and how it works experientially.
It is amazing and ridiculously simple.
As usual, the printing from my “other hand” looked
child-like and sounded like a kid’s voice. Yes, it was
my Inner Child needing some attention. She chided me for
ignoring her due to many responsibilities and projects I
was involved in. No wonder I’d been feeling exhausted.
My Inner Child IS my body and my feelings. If she isn’t
happy, the result is fatigue and crankiness or worse.
Try this when you are physically tired or filling up
with emotions that are uncomfortable, like fear, anger,
sadness, or confusion. In a short time, I felt so much
better after letting her speak in my journal. But there
was more.
Feelings about my friend who was dealing with cancer
came up, so I let myself have them, drew them out on
paper and wrote about them. This brought up old grief
about one of my best friends who died of cancer a few
years ago. Her photo is on the wall in my studio, so I
let myself look at her smiling face and cry tears that I
hadn’t realized were still there. Hadn’t I done that
grieving already? I hear that from clients all the time.
But grief about losses (new or old) does not punch a
time clock. It does not have a calendar or deadline for
completion. It can come up anytime.
I continued journaling, drawing where I was at in my
life, picturing and dialoguing with the challenges I was
facing and the feelings I had about them. This gave me
immense relief. When I left my studio, even though it
was a rainy day, everything looked brighter, I had more
energy and was ready to take on the week ahead.
I suggest you use these journal prompts when stress
builds up and you feel overwhelmed by what life is
throwing at you. Create a personal Creative Journal
retreat for yourself. Find a quiet, private place.
Assemble some drawing materials, like felt pens and
crayons.
It is best to do this work in a personal journal or
diary. Be sure to keep this journal confidential, except
for selective sharing with people who are safe and do
not criticize or analyze you. This is for your eyes
only. You won’t be completely honest or “let it all hang
out” emotionally, if you fear that someone else will see
these pages and comment on or judge them. If you have
never kept a journal, you can find detailed guidelines
and benefits in my book, The Creative Journal: The Art
of Finding Yourself.
Caring for your self in this way is not selfish. It is
actually the most caring thing you can do - for yourself
and others. Do everyone a favor. Take time just for you.
Fill your cup.
©2011 Lucia Capacchione. All Rights Reserved.
Books
by Lucia Capacchione:
Please click on the book cover to purchase
at Amazon.com
(by purchasing books from Amazon.com you are helping to support Soulful
Living)
Lucia Capacchione, Ph.D, A.T.R, is an internationally known art therapist,
corporate consultant, trainer and best-selling author of 12 books including,
Recovery of Your Inner Child, The Creative Journal, and The Power of Your
Other Hand and her new title, Visioning: Ten Steps to Designing the Life of
Your Dreams (Tarcher/Putnam).
Dr. Capacchione conducts public workshops and trains professionals
internationally through her Creative Journal Expressive Arts Certification
Program. Her books have been translated into several languages and her work
has been endorsed by such experts in the health field as Joan
Borysenko, Bernie Siegel, Louise Hay, Gerald Jampolsky and Norman Cousins.
Recognized for her ground-breaking discovery of the healing power of
writing and drawing with the non-dominant hand, Dr. Capacchione is a pioneer
in healing and recovery through expressive arts. She has been the subject of
many magazine and newspaper articles and frequent guest on radio and
television. She is director of the Creative Journal Expressive Arts
certification training program for professionals.
An inspiring speaker, workshop leader and director of spiritual retreats,
Dr. Capacchione engages audiences with playful, hands-on experiences. Widely
acclaimed for her ability to catalyze innate creativity and inner wisdom, her
methods are being applied in education, medicine, mental
health, the arts and the entertainment industry.
Website address: www.luciac.com
P.O. Box 1355, Cambria, CA 93428 USA
Phone: (805) 546-1424
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