In today's episode of The Curious Therapist Show, we discuss 3 types of self-care…

We hear about self-care everywhere — in books, on social media, in conversations with friends. And while it’s such an important part of supporting our mental health, I’ve been reflecting lately on how the mental health space and our hyper individualistic culture has most of our self-care...well...super self-focused.

We’ve got:

• Comfy (restorative) self-care: the things that feel warm and nourishing in the moment (bubble baths, memes, a cuppa in the sun).
• Uncomfy or “boring” (growth oriented) self-care: the things we don’t feel like doing but know help us in the long run (going for that walk, setting a boundary, having the awkward conversation).

But lately, I’ve been thinking about a third type too— self-care that gets us outside of ourselves.
Not just tending to our needs, but turning our focus outward — toward helping others and strengthening our community.

It doesn’t have to be big or time-consuming:

• Checking in on a neighbour who lives alone
• Writing a kind review for a small business you love
• Cooking an extra serve of dinner to drop off for a friend
• Donating blood
• Volunteering an hour at a local event or community garden

Why does this matter? Research shows that volunteering and helping others can reduce stress, combat depression, and even lead to a longer life. It’s good for the people we help — and it’s surprisingly good for us, too.

So, I’d love to hear from you…

• What does comfy self-care look like for you?
• What’s your uncomfy/boring self-care?
• And what’s one way you could try community self-care in the next week or two?

To connect with Vanessa:

Find Vanessa on Facebook: (2) Facebook

Find Vanessa on Instagram: Vanessa Preston (@vanessa_preston_) • Instagram photos and videos

Check out Vanessa’s website to find a freebie and all about her intuitive eating and body image programs: Vanessa Preston (podia.com)

Or her practice website: Green life Psychology - Green Life Psychology

Disclaimer:
This podcast represents the opinions of Vanessa Preston and her guests to the show. Vanessa is an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker and abides by ethics of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW). The content here should not be taken as medical or therapeutic advice. The content here is for informational purposes only, and because each person is so unique, please consult your healthcare professional.

In this episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Raeya Bartlett-Quinn.

Raeya is an Exercise Physiologist based in Blackburn, Victoria. She has a background in Pilates, Yoga, Meditation & Health Coaching and uses these skills with her holistic treatment approach. Raeya comes with personal experience of complex invisible illnesses from her teens and early adulthood that drove her goals and passions towards helping others.

Raeya enjoys working with paediatrics and neurodiversity most, and has a special interest in chronic fatigue syndromes, dysautonomia and hypermobility spectrum disorders.

Connect with Raeya here:

https://linktr.ee/activehealthclinic

The missing diagnosis questionnaire: https://ahcmissingdx.scoreapp.com

Buy the Book HERE:

https://activehealthclinic.com.au/products/im-tired-too-a-guide-to-chronic-fatigue-syndrome?utm_source=copyToPasteBoard&utm_medium=product-links&utm_content=web

To connect with Vanessa:

Find Vanessa on Facebook: (2) Facebook

Find Vanessa on Instagram: Vanessa Preston (@vanessa_preston_) • Instagram photos and videos

Check out Vanessa’s website to find a freebie and all about her intuitive eating and body image programs: Vanessa Preston (podia.com)

Or her practice website: http://www.greenlifepsychology.com

Disclaimer:
This podcast represents the opinions of Vanessa Preston and her guests to the show. Vanessa is an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker and abides by ethics of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW). The content here should not be taken as medical or therapeutic advice. The content here is for informational purposes only, and because each person is so unique, please consult your healthcare professional.

In today's episode of The Curious Therapist Show, I share about family systems theory and the roles we can play. And how this connects to why during the holiday season, we may feel like we revert back to our child or teen selves the minute we're with family again! I also give some helpful reminders to helping manage the stress around family and holidays this season.

I also want to thank each of you for receiving these messages, for listening to my podcast and thank you so much to those of you who have rated the show.

I will be visiting Kentucky (where I'm from) this year for the first time since 2019! So, this will be my last episode of 2024.

I have such exciting guests planned for 2025 and some creative topics for us to GET CURIOUS about together!

For now, I hope this episode helps you understand a bit more about your family, yourself and some tips for navigating all this as we wrap up this year.

Have a wonderful holiday season and wishing you all the grace and peace for the new year!

Vanessa

PS- I want to send some gentle compassion to those of you missing someone this holiday season. I hope you can nurture yourself through any grief that might be surfacing.

To connect with Vanessa:

Find Vanessa on Facebook: (2) Facebook

Find Vanessa on Instagram: Vanessa Preston (@vanessa_preston_) • Instagram photos and videos

Check out Vanessa’s website to find a freebie and all about her intuitive eating and body image programs: Vanessa Preston (podia.com)

Or her practice website: Green life Psychology - Green Life Psychology

Disclaimer:
This podcast represents the opinions of Vanessa Preston and her guests to the show. Vanessa is an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker and abides by ethics of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW). The content here should not be taken as medical or therapeutic advice. The content here is for informational purposes only, and because each person is so unique, please consult your healthcare professional.