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Why do so many caring professionals still end up burned out? Could self-care be about doing more of what matters to you? Is your best self-care routine already hiding in your daily habits?
In this podcast episode, Joe Sanok discusses what we get wrong about self-care with Shaina Siber.
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Meet Shaina Siber
Shaina Siber-Sanderowitz, LCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker, therapist, educator, and the founder of AFFIRM Mental Health, an accredited continuing education platform dedicated to helping mental health professionals grow through evidence-based, inclusive, and practical training. With more than 15 years of clinical and leadership experience, Shaina specializes in burnout recovery, trauma, LGBTQ+ affirming care, and culturally responsive practice. She maintains a private psychotherapy practice serving adults and healthcare professionals, drawing from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT), and Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT). In addition to leading AFFIRM Mental Health, Shaina hosts The Affirming Minds Podcast, where she brings expert conversations and continuing education to therapists around the world.
Visit Affirm Mental Health and connect on Instagram and LinkedIn.
In This Podcast
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Why burnout and self-care are important to Shaina
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Infusing your values into your routines
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A self-inventory
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How therapists get stuck with self-care
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Shaina’s advice to private practitioners
Why burnout and self-care are important to Shaina
In the height of the COVID pandemic, Shaina was working in a leadership capacity at a hospital in the Bronx.
During these peaks of stress and illness, the hospital staff was hit with mental health crises.
There was a mental health crisis that happened amongst the healthcare workers, the frontline workers … anybody who was working in that hospital system at the time was impacted by burnout and moral injury. (Shaina Siber)
Witnessing this, Shaina mobilized a crisis response for the healthcare workers to get them the psychological support that they needed.
However, Shaina herself became burned out, and knew that she had to instill burnout recovery and prevention principles as well into her own capacity.
I care so much about being a therapist, I love this work, and I think I really recognized that if this was going to be sustainable for me, I had to show up in a different way. (Shaina Siber)
Infusing your values into your routines
Rather than forcing yourself to adopt self-care practices that don’t align with your current schedule, personalize things.
If you only have 15 minutes available for conscious breathing or to sit in silence, then do that, rather than trying to fit in 45 minutes.
Alternatively, look at what you are already doing well for yourself and habit-stack onto that.
What are you already disciplined around? What are you already doing without much thought or effort … and how do we infuse your values into those practices, how do we do those things more compassionately, and build out a practice there? (Shaina Siber)
Essentially, Shaina wants you to consider time-neutral self-care changes that you can easily slot into your existing routines. Start with the lowest-capacity, lowest-effort action that you can take, and build it up.
A self-inventory
Conduct a compassionate self-inventory by asking yourself:
1 – What would a typical day in my life look like right now?
2 – What do you do every day consistently?
3 – When do you engage in this behavior?
4 – Why do you engage in this behavior?
5 – What are you hoping to feel when you practice these habits?
6 – How do you typically and commonly feel afterwards?
Then we start to get to [a point of] exploration of is this an opportunity where we can add some habit-stacking? Can we add something on? Do we need to remove something that’s happening there? Do we need to modify something there? We can then find some of those natural entry points. (Shaina Siber)
How therapists get stuck with self-care
Self-care is not just about what someone does; it is more essentially about how a person feels after they have done something, whether they enjoyed it or not.
I think that a lot of the ways that [therapists] get stuck is reducing self-care to consumption alone, and [seeing] the sole intervention of self-care behaviors and habits to feel relaxed. (Shaina Siber)
Self-care goes beyond relaxation; it means being committed to your well-being, which can include a variety of things you may not like doing.
Shaina has four pillars of self-care that everyone, even therapists, should consider when people are brainstorming to construct their self-care routines:
- Integrating habits, choices, and behaviors that allow you to exercise presence
- Connection, where you are connecting with people that you care about, are inspired by, and create feelings of safety in community
- True restoration, rest without feeling guilty
- Meaningful pursuits, which allow you to put your principles and values into action
Shaina’s advice to private practitioners
What you choose to do, or what you choose not to do, are both part of your self-care routine, and it is also where your power is.
Books mentioned in this episode:
Shaina Siber – Using ACT and CFT for Burnout Recovery: The Beyond Burnout Blueprint
Sponsors Mentioned in this Episode:
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Resources mentioned in this episode:
Visit Affirm Mental Health and connect on Instagram and LinkedIn.
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