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

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:
https://www.intentionaltherapist.ca/  |  intentional@intentionaltherapist.ca  |   https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmelissatiessen/

Share one of your own self-care experiments via our SpeakPipe page at:  https://www.speakpipe.com/intentionaltherapist

Ready to upgrade your self-care?  Check out the independent study version of our course, Thrivival Skills for Therapists, and earn 3 CE credits!  Because self-care is PART OF our jobs!  More info at:  https://intentional-therapist.newzenler.com/courses/thrivival-skills-for-therapists-independent-study  

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.