Your Name and Title: Katie George; Professional Development Instructor
Library, School, or Organization Name: Howard County Library System
Co-Presenter Name(s): NA
Area of the World from Which You Will Present: Ellicott City, Maryland, USA
Language in Which You Will Present: English
Target Audience(s): Public Service Staff
Short Session Description (one line): Know how to take care of yourself before you need to take care of yourself.
Full Session Description (as long as you would like):
Library workers are helpers by nature. Constant helping can take a toll on mental and physical health. We should engage in self-care on a regular basis, but stressors, schedules, and other distractions can hamper best intentions. Then, suddenly, we are triggered by a difficult customer interaction, a change in the workplace, a traumatic event...and we find ourselves at a loss for how to regroup, recover, and refuel. Creating a self-care plan before you reach your "last straw" can increase your resilience. Instead of deciding what to do while knee-deep in stress and trauma, a self-care plan prepares you in advance with an action plan to rebound...no executive functioning needed. Recognize the signs that it's time for self-care; identify eight facets of self-care; generate ideas to address each facet; and assemble a plan tailored to your needs.
Katie has been working in public libraries for 20 years. She won't claim to have seen it all, but she has seen a lot...and didn't always have to tools to recover from it. Katie is also a certified Mental Health First Aid instructor. MHFA recommends all first-aiders prepare a self-care plan. The unpredictable nature of the library environment makes self-care plans a good idea for library workers, too!
Websites / URLs Associated with Your Session: hclibrary.org ; mentalhealthfirstaid.org
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