I know we all work in a highly stressful environment, dealing with behaviours of concern daily with our clients, working hard to de-escalate and redirect them, and offering an excellent level of supports to each and every one of our clients…

BUT…have you ever thought of the toll it takes on you as an individual? If you are like me, probably not. So, I am going to impart some words of wisdom that I recently shared with someone, and I could hear just how hard the message hit home, so I would like to share my message with all of you today.

Think of yourself as a number of different bank accounts…Emotional Bank Account, Wellness and Physical Bank Account, Nutrition and Hydration Bank Account, Downtime Bank Account. Etc.

Now, when things are good, we can all top up our bank accounts with deposits, whether they be daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly even, so that we are feeling fit, healthy, strong and ready to take on the world but, as life happens, especially now through the stressors related to the COVID pandemic and restrictions around movement, interactions, socialising, we will have to dive into those bank accounts, and make “withdrawals”, making us less strong, less fit, feeling less strong .

When it comes to the point where we are “withdrawing” more than we are “depositing”, that particular bank account will be under stress as it will be “overdrawn” or “overworked”, and this is where we start to feel really tired, fatigued, start to not eat healthy, work longer hours, lose out on family time, don’t sleep properly…the list goes on, as I am sure you are all aware.

There is good news to this story though…and that is we can all ensure that our bank accounts remain in good shape by making sure that we “check in” with ourselves every now and then this is called self or quiet reflection and doesn’t ‘t take long at all. Much like we do with our clients, asking them how they are, how they are feeling, we need to ask that of ourselves, and listen to what we tell ourselves, and if action needs to be taken…then take it.

Another analogy is if your car is due for a service, and you keep ignoring the warning lights, bells, etc., the car will eventually just stop working, as you didn’t take the action when needed.

I hope that all makes sense to everyone.

In closing, please remember that we do have AccessEAP, a company we have partnered with for our staff to reach out for assistance, and counselling, if and when needed. These calls remain confidential, but it gives you the opportunity to speak to a specialist counsellor who can give your guidance and advice with whatever it may be that you are facing. Their contact number is 1800 818 728.