Take 10 minutes for your own resiliency this Mental Health Month

As clinicians we spend much of our workday helping others with their mental health. But when’s the last time you actually set time aside to think about your own mental health?

Well in honour of Mental Health Awareness Month we thought we’d use this newsletter to encourage you to complete a quick 10-minute exercise from Dr. Marie-Helene (MH) Pelletier’s book, The Resilience Plan. (If you haven't listened to our recent podcast interview with her, we encourage you to set aside some time to do that too!)

Although this exercise is only one part of MH’s Resilience Plan, this is a great place to start - importantly, it can counter our inherent tendency to underestimate our demands and overestimate our supply, and thus help us to better plan for the upcoming weeks or months.

First, set yourself a timer for 10 minutes. That is really all you need to get started!

Then, pick a specific timeframe that makes sense for you (e.g., the next 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, etc.). Spend about 5 minutes listing all the demands that are expected/predictable over the timeframe you’ve identified. Remember to include demands from both your personal and professional life and demands that you perceive as positive (e.g., moving, getting promoted, getting married, chairing a committee, etc.) and negative (e.g., caring for a sick family member, our own health issues, working with a challenging colleague, having an actively suicidal client, etc.).

Once you’ve done that, take another 5 minutes to list all your sources of supply. Once again, remember to include sources that come from both your professional and personal life. According to MH, sources can include things like having good physical health, a supportive relationship with our partner, spending time with our children, going to the gym, etc. Also consider supportive colleagues, a schedule that works for you, clinical work you enjoy, etc. 

Then take a moment to reflect on the following simple questions (from page 88):

1) How to you feel about the supply side of your inventory?

2) How do you feel about the demands side of your inventory?

3) What would be your best realistic goal in the timeframe you have defined as it relates to supply and demand?

And that's it! Only 10 minutes but hopefully now much closer to having a better idea of what you need for your own resilience.

Wishing you all good mental health, this month and every month!