Reflections on Weeks 2 and 4 - Overlapping Themes

 


Reflective Practice gives us a space to grapple with the needs of the self and how to put that at the top of our to-do lists.  No topic is off limits, here is some more we explored this week:

Thinking about professionalism 

Balancing who we are with what others expect us to be. What happens when we do not look like our qualifications but like human beings with real thoughts and feelings? 

Do we have to put on an ‘outfit’ or can we be a wonderful messy mix of good ideas and knowledge wrapped up in a colourful outfit rather than a suit and boots?

Prioritising our own needs is a part of being a professional. Sometimes work has to come second because otherwise we wind up with burnout and an inability to care for anyone or anything.  

Getting used to giving to the other without self-care its the straightest road to burnout.

It is a good thing to be resilient but the other side of that is avoidance, avoiding feeling our own feelings or listening to ourselves and our body and mind’s needs.

Finding balance is a priority, balancing our needs with those we work with or for. 

How do we know when enough is enough? 

Do we wait for that or schedule in time and hold it sacred as we do the space we give to our jobs?

Can we choose what and who to listen to or do we always have to be good listeners?

·        Art making as an opportunity to refocus on ourselves and our experiences. We are able to play with boundaries, with the unspoken, the unknown, for meaning to form and to be destroyed, for new layers to form and manifest some of their character.

·         Sharing the reminder gained whilst reading 'We' by Gillian Anderson and Jennifer Nadel’ that by looking after the ‘I’ we are better able to care for the ‘we’. 

·         Rediscovering what our priorities are both personally and at work.

·         Motherhood and how often this involves learning as we go.

·         Discussing what brought us into the counselling profession brought a range of different answers: a wish to understand people, ourselves; a healthy interest in other people’s stories, the joy of witnessing others grow and develop; the learning, knowledge sharing and teaching; the chance to lend others our minds to help them find their way forward.

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·       The power of being non-directive – working with rather than against.

The clarity and clear thinking that comes out of the muddle 

leaves us all feeling the bubbles of energy rise in us!

 


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