This year’s Psychology Week (29 October to 5 November) was focused on Self Care for Psychologists. CMHL Psychology Educators Dr Kerrie Clarke and Michelle Corso delivered a 90 minute webinar titled “Self Care for Psychologists – Beyond a Self Care Plan” on 2nd November 2023 as a part of Psychology Week celebrations.
The webinar was attended by over 85 public mental health psychologists. Psychologists attending were encouraged to reflect on the pressures of working in the public mental health system and how this can affect self care practices. The webinar also provided information on the role of empathy and compassion and ways to prevent empathic distress through the use of self compassion practices.
At the conclusion of the webinar attendees were asked to reflect on what they were most grateful for in their work as a public mental health psychologist. This was converted into a word cloud with the main themes being around connection, support, working in a team, supervision and learning opportunities.
