Self-Care – Emotional First Aid

November 1, 2021

For the month of October during spa night, Residential Activities Coordinator Daniel Anderson focused on self-care with our students. He focused on how self-care can impact their daily lives and ways that they can practice here at Latham.  Danny wrote to staff: 

“Self-Care, in my opinion, has become more of a buzzword, if anything. Something that people are constantly chasing, but are not actually benefitting from. Are we caring for our mind, spirit, and body in a real, positive, and nourishing way? 

The link below is a Ted Talk with psychologist Guy Winch. He discusses how to change our mindset to better support ourselves in the moment and be able to move forward, and why we seem to prioritize our body’s physical health over our mental state.

https://www.ted.com/talks/guy_winch_why_we_all_need_to_practice_emotional_first_aid

One of my favorite examples he provides is an observation he made while watching his friend’s 5-year-old son getting ready for bed. In the process, the little boy falls and cuts himself on a stool. After a few short moments of crying, the boy gets up and begins to grab a band-aid, as he knows that cuts need to be covered. At 5, the boy knew this. We teach those skills as soon as we can, however, far less time is spent teaching how to handle/recover from loneliness, rejection, failure, etc. How often mental health is treated like a scraped knee from a day in the ‘90s – ‘just shake it off, you’re fine.’ 

We here at Latham have been through so much together in the last year and a half. Possibly more than we ever thought possible. As we move forward as a team and as people, taking care of ourselves will become more important than ever, especially in our line of work. 

I hope that you find this Ted Talk as interesting, insightful, and beneficial as I did. As the days get shorter and the nights get longer, remember to take time for yourself, to forgive yourself, to support yourself.” 

~ Danny

#LathamFamily #LathamStrong