The Problem with Self-Care
Are you feeling burnt out or on the edge? Self-care has come to be our token response to this common situation, scratching our itch for the next panacea. For those of us who have worked in situations of taking care of children in youth that have experienced trauma, self-care has strolled into the spotlight in an unassuming way triggering that classic way of processing: where was this concept when I needed it 10 years ago? When I embarked on this journey of caring for the vulnerable, I can't remember a single soul warning me of the emotional risks of exposing myself to trauma or the inherent cost that chronic empathy would have on me. I was warned not to eat tacos off the street and to steer clear of certain "zonas peligrosas" but never about the exposure of my soul to the trauma of another. The truth is, our society has come to value and praise empathy in such away that we haphazardly enamor ourselves with the concept without understanding the toll we all must pay upon ...