Infusing Some Creativity Into Our Self-Care: A Conversation with Dr. Jo Eckler

02/04/22 • 28 min

Intentional Therapist: Putting You In Your Schedule

With all the heaviness and responsibility that often comes with our work - especially throughout the pandemic - it’s easy to lose touch with the more playful and creative side of ourselves. Yet the reality is, these are foundational to our existence as human beings (yes, even adult human beings) and can actually help us build complex, skilled, responsive, socially adept and flexible brains. Which, in turn, build complex, skilled responses, socially adept and flexible people and societies. Sounds pretty good hey?
In this episode we speak with Dr. Jo Eckler about their awesome books (with some of our favourite titles!) and get their perspective on how creativity fits into self-care and some warning signs that we need to infuse more creativity into our lives. We also get some great ideas about how to start bringing more creativity and play into our work and personal lives - including a pretty fun way to add a new 'client' to our caseloads!
Episode highlights:

What led Dr. Jo to write their book on therapist self-care
How creativity fits into self-care
Factors that make it hard for clinicians to bring creativity and play into our lives
Some simple steps to start bringing more creativity and play into our lives
Dr. Jo’s best “non-conventional” self-care practice

Dr. Jo Eckler is a licensed clinical psychologist with nearly two decades of experience helping people learn ways to cope with emotions and build more meaningful lives. They've worked in community mental health, university counselling centers, multiple Veterans Affairs hospitals, nursing homes, and now private practice. Since they're a recovering overachiever, Dr. Jo's also an author, a coach, a registered yoga teacher, and is trained as a death & mourning doula. The author of I Can't Fix You-Because You're Not Broken: The Eight Keys to Freeing Yourself From Painful Thoughts and Feelings and You Can't Fix Them--Because They're Not Broken: A Sustainability Guide for Tired Helpers and Healers, they've also appeared in numerous media outlets, including O Magazine, Health, Bustle, and Huffington Post. When not working, Dr. Jo is likely watching the Great British Baking Show, playing with their dachshund and polydactyl cat, or down an internet rabbit hole learning about something new.

Connect with Jo:
https://www.drjoeckler.com

Connect with Melissa & Karen at Intentional Therapist:
[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmelissatiessen/
Share one of your own self-care experiments via our SpeakPipe page at: https://www.speakpipe.com/intentionaltherapist
Disclaimer: This podcast seeks to be educational in purpose and is not to be used as clinical advice. Please connect with a therapist one-on-one for personalized support.

What led Dr. Jo to write their book on therapist self-care
How creativity fits into self-care
Factors that make it hard for clinicians to bring creativity and play into our lives
Some simple steps to start bringing more creativity and play into our lives
Dr. Jo’s best “non-conventional” self-care practice

Connect with Jo:
https://www.drjoeckler.com

Previous Episode

Fitting Finances Into Your Self-Care: A Conversation with Linzy Bonham

Finances and self-care? Yep, that’s right! Although not typically considered part of traditional self-care, money and finances figure prominently in our fresh take on self-care for female mental health clinicians. In this episode we speak with Linzy Bonham, MSW, RSW, founder of Money Nuts & Bolts, about the important role finances and money play in self-care, some of the warning signs that we might need some assistance with money related issues, and what we can do to start feeling more on top of our finances.

Episode highlights:

What led Linzy to create her signature course, Money Skills for Therapists
How money skills fit into self-care
Factors that contribute to unique money related issues for female therapists
Steps you can take today to start feeling more on top of your finances
Linzy’s best “non-conventional” self-care practice

Linzy Bonham is a therapist in private practice, a consultant who helps therapists feel calm and in control of their finances, and the creator of the Money Skills for Therapists course. As the daughter of an accountant, Linzy inherited a good dose of bookkeeping brain. She's like half therapist, half bookkeeper. So when she went into private practice, she dug right into all the ways to build a healthy business that pays for her life and always has extra money in the bank.

Now Linzy helps therapists develop peace of mind about their money. Since so many of us were never taught about money, she focuses on the 'how' of making the financial side of private practice doable, and even super satisfying - feeling competent and calm about your money is pretty swell!

Resources:

Free Mini-Training: The Secret to Getting Unstuck in Your Business Finances:
https://moneynutsandbolts.com/resources

Connect with Linzy:
https://www.moneynutsandbolts.com
[email protected]

Next Episode

Using Values to Guide Our Self-Care Journey: A Conversation with Dr. Dayna Lee-Bagley

Let’s face it: self-care is a journey. And like any journey, we’re bound to run into unexpected roadblocks and detours that are beyond our control (think pandemic, home schooling, client crises, etc.). Fortunately, we all have a built-in global positioning system (GPS) called values, that can help us navigate our journey, even in the face of roadblocks and detours. It can help keep us moving in the right direction, even if that might mean taking a slightly different path than we had initially planned.
In this episode, clinical psychologist and author, Dr. Dayna Lee-Baggley, shares how her values have shaped the work she does and offers her perspective on some of the unique self-care, or 're-charging', challenges facing healthcare providers, the impact of the pandemic, and some easy ways we can start incorporating value-driven action into our own self-care.
Episode highlights:

What led Dr. Lee-Baggley to leave her hospital position after 15 years
How the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) framework can fit into self-care
Factors that make it hard for healthcare providers to take care of themselves
How the pandemic (or “apocalypse”) has impacted us
An easy way to start incorporating value-driven action into our lives

Dr. Dayna Lee-Baggley is a Registered Clinical Psychologist in BC, AB, ON and NS. She is the director of Dr. Lee-Baggley and Associates, a virtual health psychology clinic specializing in clinical interventions, training for healthcare providers, and research in health-related issues. She worked for almost 15 years in multidisciplinary teams on medical, surgical and cancer care hospital units providing assessment, therapy and consultation for patients with chronic and life-threatening health conditions. She also conducts research as an Assistant Professor at Dalhousie University and has an Adjunct Professor appointment at Saint Mary’s University. She has an active research program on behavior change, obesity, chronic disease, professional resiliency and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). She is a senior consultant providing healthy workplace interventions for employees, teams, and leaders. She is an internationally recognized trainer in ACT and a certified therapist in Emotion Focused Therapy for Couples. She was the recipient of the 2017 Women of Excellence Award for her contributions to Health, Sport and Wellness (Canadian Progress Club Halifax Cornwallis). She is the author of the book “Healthy Habits Suck: How to get off the couch & live a healthy life...even if you don’t want to.”
Connect with Dayna:
http://drleebaggley.com
https://twitter.com/DrLeeBaggley
https://www.facebook.com/drleebaggley
https://www.instagram.com/drleebaggley